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'But no answer came from the graves of the dead, 
nor the gloomier grave of the living." 



THE 



"EVANGELINE" BOOK 



READERS AND STUDENTS OF "EVANGELINE' 



P. M. MUHLIG. 



Chicago: 
A. FLANAGAN, Pubi^isher. 



/e 



;^uoi)7 



Copyrighted 15 



A. FI^ANAGAN. 

TWO COMES RECEIVED- 







CONTENTS. 



Introductory -- 

CHAPTER I. 
Poet and Poetry 7 

CHAPTER II. 
Discovery and Setti^ement 10 

CHAPTER III. 
SettIvEments and Disturbances 17 

CHAPTER IV. 
The EXII.E 23 

chapter' V. " 
The Acadian Land _... 28 

CHAPTER VI. 
The Successors - y^ . . Z 35 

CHAPTER VII. 
The Successors.— Continued 41 

CHAPTER VIII. 
The Acadians and Acadian Rewcs 48 

CHAPTER IX. 

The Indians - 52 

Notes and References - 57 

EvANGEWNE, THE Poem - - - - - - - 69 



^iT 



INTRODUCTORY. 

In presenting this little book, the author believes that he is 
not encroaching on a field already well stocked with literature. 
He knows of no book written for the same purpose as this 
little volume. It is intended as a helper to the reader of 
"Evangeline," and to anyone desirous of learning more of 
Acadia and its story than the ordinary text book of the poem 
can furnish. A complete history of Nova Scotia is not 
attempted. Only the thread of its earlier history is given in 
order to trace its most important events down to the Exile and 
the "occupation." Longfellow's line "Dwells another race 
with other customs and language," is very suggestive, and 
forms the "text" for the sixth and seventh chapters. Is that 
"other race" the people of Nova Scotia as they are today? 
We think not; and we believe that the older generation, now 
fast passing away, will agree with us. The people of today 
have the sturdy character, the honesty and integrity of their 
forefathers; but when we add to these the intercourse with the 
outside world, rapid transit, the army of modern inventions, 
and the growing advantages of education and government, we 
have a people differing from their ancestors in many respects. 

No attempt has been made to give a biographical sketch of 
Longfellow; that can be found in any volume on American 
Literature. 

Special attention is given to the Cornwallis Valley, which 
was the valley of the Acadians and the scene of the poem. 

Indebtedness to Willoughby's "Land of the Mayflower," 

Campbell's "School History of Nova Scotia," Houghton, 

Mifflin & Go's "American Poems" and F. H. Eaton's article 

on "Bay of Fundy Tides and Marshes," is hereby gratefully 

acknowledged by 

The; Author. 



CHAPTER I. 

Poet and Poetry. 

To the end of time the early history of America will be 
read with interest ; not only on account of the deeds of bravery, 
fortitude, endurance and heroism ; not only for the great enter- 
prises that with such small beginnings resulted in nations ; 
not only for those principles involved that underlie the very 
existence of those nations ; but also for the many true tales of 
joy and sorrow, romance and tragedy, success aad failure, hap- 
piness and despair, life and death, fortune and misfortune, that 
are woven into it and therefore inseparable from it. Many of 
these tales are lost to us or are passed by historians with but a 
word of mention. 

Here and there one of these incidents is brought to light by 
the mind and pen of historian or poet, a Parkman or a Longfel- 
low. Had the poem of Evangeline never been written , how little 
would we know or learn of the story of the Acadian people. 
What hours we use with pleasure and profit in reading and 
studying that ever interesting poem. Why do we prefer the 
poem rather than the brief account given in our histories? 
Because the writer was a poet, and poets write poetry. Rhyme 
is not poetry. Harmonious verse is not poetry. Coleridge 
says ' * Poetry is the art of reproducing in words external 
nature and human thoughts and affections." The true poet 
finds sweet music and pathos in common things, as the ticking 
of a clock or the flight of a waterfowl. Poetry results from a 
just observation of human life — its hopes, affections, aspira- 
tions and ideals. The last is probably the most important, 
for the poet deals in the ideal more than the real. Our 

(7) 



8 KVANGEI<INS. 

dictionary tells us that an ideal is a conception proposed by the 
mind for imitation, realization or attainment; a standard or 
model of perfection or duty. It is to be attained by selecting 
and assembling in one whole the beauties and perfections which 
are usually seen in different individuals, excluding everything 
defective or unseemly, so as to form a type or model. I^ong- 
fellow wrote "The Old Clock on the Stairs." The old clock 
which he had in mind stood in "the old-fashioned country 
seat," which was the old Craigee House in Cambridge, once 
used by Washington as his headquarters. Our highest and 
best ideal is Heaven. We read these words in the ninth stanza 
of the poem mentioned : 

"Never here, forever there, 
Where all parting, pain and care. 
And death and time shall disappear 
Forever there, but never here." 

Can we form a higher or nobler ideal than that contained in 
the above? In " The Bridge " there is an ideal which can be 
readily found. 

"The moon rose over the city " of Boston, 

"Behind the dark church tower." / 

And that dark church tower was on the old North Church, the 
tower Paul Revere watched so eagerly on that memorable 
night of the 18th of April, 1775. In "Paul Revere " we find 
a grand and heroic ideal. Let us look for these ideals as we 
read. We will find them well worth the search. There are 
ideals in the poem of Evangeline. Have we found them? 
Everyone, young or old, who has any wish for advancement, 
any ambition, any desire for something better than that now 
possessed by him, has an ideal. It may be crude and we may 
not be aware of its existence, but it is with us at all times 
unless it be realized. We know that it is what we strive to 
gain and not what we have. 



E^VANGELINE. 9 

"For two ideals I strove with eager quest. 
The first I lost,— and why ? 
'Twas realized. The other, unpossessed, 
Stays with me till I die." 

Why should we not strive for something higher, better and 
purer? Many strive for riches. If we choose this ideal, let us 
seek the true riches, for 

" The riches of the commonwealth 
Are free, strong minds and hearts of health. 
And more to her than gold or gain 
The cunning hand and cultured brain." 

It is said that the story of Kvangeline was told to Longfellow 
by Hawthorne, who at one time contemplated writing a prose 
story based on the Kxile. It is further stated that the heroine 
of the original story was named Gabrielle. After a consultation 
between these two authors it was decided that Longfellow 
should make it the theme of a poem. We do not regret the 
decision. The poem has been translated into many languages. 
Perhaps in this respect it stands next to the Bible and Uncle 
Tom's Cabin. 

Longfellow and his works are known through all the civil- 
ized world. He was given a place in Westminster Abbey 
among the greatest men of the English-speaking people. 

Many years ago at a social gathering in Italy, representa- 
tives of six different nations met. During their conversation 
they agreed that each should select and recite a quotation from 
his favorite author. They did so, and strange to relate, every 
selection given was from Longfellow. 

Not long ago a Technological Institute costing over $400,000 
was erected in England. On its lintel are carved these words: 
"Art is long and time is fleeting." 



CHAPTER II. 
Discovery and Sktti.emknt. 

The history of North America before the coming of the 
white man will ever be comparatively unknown to us. The 
beauties of mountain, valley, forest and shore were seen only 
by wild men and wild beasts. No human voice was heard save 
that of the barbarian as he met his foe in a death grapple, or 
chanted his weird songs of war, hunting or superstitious rites. 
But the change came. Across the ocean sailed the little 
vessels of the Norsemen, the Genoese and the English, followed 
closely by the French. They brought with them the civiliza- 
tion of the old world and sowed its seed on new ground. The 
seed thrived in this new soil even better than in the old, and 
from that day to the present a conflict has heen waged steadily 
here between civilization and barbarism, between freedom and 
oppression, between liberty and slavery. The results have 
been tremendous for the good of mankind ; but while the plan 
was divine the instruments were but human, and consequently 
we find here and there blots upon the record. 

Previous to the year 1000, the hardy Norsemen had seen 
the shores of North America and perhaps made temporary 
settlements. In 1492 came Columbus, a native of Genoa, under 
Spanish patronage. His was accepted as the real discovery, as 
it was the first to be followed by permanent settlement. He 
was soon followed by others, and among the first of these was 
Americus Vespucius, who received the honor of having the 
country named for him. In justice it should have been called 
Columbia. In 1497 the Cabots sailed from England with a 
commission from Henry VII, three-hundred men, and a fleet 
of five ships and two caravels. Thej^ discovered lands to the 

(10) . 



I 



KVANGElylNK. 



11 




NOVA SCOTIA AND VICINITY. 



12 KVANGELINK. 

westward, which from their rude maps are supposed to have 
been Nova Scotia, Cape Breton Island and Newfoundland. 
They then sailed farther to the west and reached the mainland. 
They sailed again and northward to 67° 30', then south as far 
as Florida. They then returned to England on account of 
scarcity of provisions and mutiny among the crews. 

For many years the English made no attempt to follow up 
the discoveries of the Cabots by actual settlements. Under 
Queen Elizabeth enterprise was awakened. With a patent for 
"discovering, occupying and peopling heathen and barbarous 
countries," Sir Humphrey Gilbert sailed with an expedition 
from England in 1583. After a voyage of one month he arrived 
at Newfoundland, which he took formal possession of. After 
remaining there for some time he decided to go to Sable Island 
and re-stock his larder before taking his long voyage home- 
ward. Captain Hays of the sole surviving vessel wrote as fol- 
lows: "Sable lieth to the seaward of Cape Breton, about 45°, 
whither we were determined to go upon intelligence we had of a 
Portingall during our abode in St. John's, who was also himself 
present when the Portingalls, about thirty years past, did put 
into the same island both neat and swine to breed, which were 
since exceedingly multiplied." In a dense mist and rain, with 
a high wind, they neared this bleak land, by later mariners 
named "The graveyard of the North Atlantic," on account of 
the great number of wrecks on its shoals and sand bars. Here 
Gilbert lost one vessel and one-hundred men by shipwreck. 
Escaping from the dangers of Sable Island, he encountered a 
fearful gale on the Grand Banks, and but one vessel survived to ij 
tell to England that the heroic Admiral hailed them during the ' 
storm, saying that "Heaven was as near by sea as by land," 
and soon after, standing by the helm, sorely wounded in his 
foot, and Bible in hand, went down beneath the waves. [See 
note at end of this chapter.] 



I 



EVANGELINE. 13 

In 1607 Sir John Gilbert, brother of Sir Humphrey, plant- 
ed a weak colony within what is now the state of Maine. He 
died soon after, and the colony was broken up. The formal 
possession taken by Sir Humphrey and the actual settlement 
of Sir John, added to the discoveries of the Cabots, formed the 
foundation of the claim of the crown of England to the whole 
of its possessions in North America. 

In the meantime the French had been active. At a very 
early period adventurers had visited North America for the 
purpose of taking possession of it for the crown of France. 
Verrazani, in 1524, sailed along the eastern coast of the conti- 
nent from a point one hundred and fifty miles south of Cape 
Fear to New England. In 1534 Cartier explored the gulf and 
river St. L^awrence. Cape Breton was known to both French 
and English before Nova Scotia was. The French first ex- 
plored it, and it probably received its name from the Bretons of 
France. The French were probably the first, after Cabot, to 
reach Nova Scotia, and they were the first to attempt its colo- 
nization. We have already found that the Portuguese left 
swine and cattle on Sable Island. This was about 1505. In 
1538 the Baron de Lery attempted to plant a French colony in 
the new world, but incessant storms so delayed the expedition 
that it arrived off the coast too late in the season to land and 
prepare for winter. To lighten his vessel for the return voyage 
he left his cattle on Sable Island. With these were several 
horses or ponies, from which have sprung the hardy, shaggy 
ponies that still run wild on its sand dunes. In 1598 the Mar- 
quis de la Roche was granted letters patent by Henry IV of 
France, giving him power over the "islands and countries of 
Canada, Sable Island, Newfoundland, and the adjacent re- 
gions." Forty convicts from the royal prisons were given him 
as colonists. He decided to leave his colonists upon Sable 
Island until he had selected and prepared a place for his settle- 



14 



EVANGKLINE. 



ment. Immediately after leaving the island a great and long 
continued storm arose, which drove his vessel so far eastward 
that he decided to return to France. In 1603 the king sent a: 
vessel to bring the convicts back. Twelve out of the forty] 
were alive. They were taken to France, where each received a 
full pardon and fifty golden crowns. 




Old Earthworks at Annapolis (Port Royal). '"When as a captive I lay in the old 
French fort at Port Royal."— Line 303. 

In the year 1604 De Monts, who had been appointed goven 
nor general of New France, came with an expedition to make 
a settlement. After narrowly escaping shipwreck on the 
"Graveyard of the North Atlantic," he succeeded in planting! 
his colony in the well chosen spot where the town of Annapoliil 
now stands. This was the Port Royal of the French. Afte 
establishing his colony De Monts sailed along the coast, ex 
plored his territory, traded with the Indians and made then 
his friends. The English who settled Jamestown, Virginia, ii 
1607, learning of the French settlement and considering i 
within the limits of their charter, fitted out an expedition un 



KVANGKLINK. 15 

der the command of Sir Samuel Argall, and attacked Port 
Royal in 1613. It was easily taken. Argall found the com- 
mission from the French king and concealed it, that he might 
pillage the town and treat the inhabitants as pirates, on the 
grounds that they had no authority for occupying the terri- 
tory. Not having sufficient vessels in which to return to 
France, some of the French accompanied Sir Samuel, at his 
own request, to Jamestown, where they were imprisoned as pi- 
rates, and only escaped execution by Sir Samuel's admission of 
his concealment of the French royal commission. 

NOTKS. 

Sable Island belongs to Nova Scotia and is about one hun- 
dred ten miles S. E. of Halifax. It is about twenty-five miles 
long and one mile wide. Its surface consists of sand hills 
formed by action of wind and water. There are no trees, but 
most of its surface is covered with a growth of long, rank 
grass. There is a lake of considerable size on the island. 
Sable Island is feared and shunned by mariners at all times. 
Its great dangers are its extensive shoals, the ocean currents 
that sweep around it, and the thick fogs which are so preva- 
lent on the surrounding waters. The government now main- 
tains two lighthouses and a life saving station here. Commun- 
ication with the island by boat is almost impossible during the 
stormy months, but an exchange of messages is effected by 
means of carrier pigeons. A cable is contemplated. No 
man can tell the number of ships that have been beaten to 
pieces on its shoals and bars, and buried in its treacherous and 
ever shifting sands. 

Before the government established a station there, the island 
was frequented by piratical wreckers who sought the spoil cast 
on the shore from the wrecks. Terrible stories were told of 
these wreckers. It is said that survivors who reached the 



16 EVANGELINE. 

shore from wrecks were murdered for their jewelry or valua- 
bles. Sailors still tell of the ghost of a lady which walks the 
shores of the island just before a storm, and holds up a bleed- 
ing hand to show that a finger was severed to obtain a ring 
she wore. 

It was near this island that the Bourgogne went down in 



II 



SABLK ISLAND. 

" Dark Isle of Mourning, aptly art thou named, 

For thou hast been the cause of many a tear; 

For deeds of treacherous strife too justly famed, 

The Atlantic's Charnel, desolate and drear, 

A thing none love, though wand 'ring thousands fear; 

If for a moment rests the Muse's wing 

Where through the waves th}' sandy wastes appear, 

'Tis that she may one strain of horror sing, 

Wild as the dashing waves that tempests o'er thee fling." 



i| 



CHAPTER III. 

• SKTTI.KMKNTS AND DISTURBANCES. 

In the oldest records Acadia is called Cadie. Afterwards it 
was called by various writers Accadia, L'Acadie, Acadie and 
Acadia. Acadia under the French included Nova Scotia, New 
Brunswick and a part of Maine. The name is probably the 
French adaptation of a common word of the Micmac Indians who 
lived there, and signifies place or region. Used as a suffix it 
indicated the place where various things, such as berries, eels 
or seals were found in abundance. The French called this 
word Cadie or Acadie; the English called it Quoddy. Passama- 
quoddy means the place of pollocks. Shubenacadie means the 
place of ground nuts. 

In the year 1601, James I. granted to Sir William Alexander 
all the territory lying between the river St. Croix and the Gulf 
of St. Eawrence. The country was named Nova Scotia (New 
Scotland) in the grant. Sir William intended to colonize it 
with Scotch emigrants, but failed in his attempt to do so. As 
Sir Samuel Argall's conquest was not followed up by actual 
settlement, the French had regained possession, and had been 
strengthened by arrivals from France. Charles I., who suc- 
ceeded King James, reappointed Sir William Alexander as 
governor general of Nova Scotia, in 1624. He also founded 
the order of Knights Baronet of Nova Scotia, who were to 
furnish colonists, and receive therefor 16,000 acres of land each. 
But few, if any of them, ever received their land. A party of 
Scotch emigrants landed at Port Royal and built a fort on the 
opposite side of the basin where the town of Granville now 
stands. The remains of this work are still called "The Scotch 

(17) 



18 EVANGKI.INK. 

Fort." In 1632, when the Enghsh were getting well established 
in the country, King Charles I., by the treaty of St. Germains, 
ceded the whole of Nova Scotia and Canada to the King of 
France. Again in full possession of the French, Acadia 
received a French governor and many settlers. This governor, 
Isaac de Razilly, died and was succeeded by Charnise. 

While the French officers were quarrelling about their 
several claims, an English fleet, sent out by Cromwell, easily 
conquered them, and again the country was in English hands. 
In 1667 it was again ceded to the French. For twenty-three 
years Acadia remained French. During all these changes the 
French settlers had never completely deserted Nova Scotia, but< 
the colonists received little aid or attention from their govern- 
ment during this period following the treaty of 1667. The 
English colony in Massachusetts was growing rapidly, and soon 
made ready a strong force, under Sir William Phipps, to attack 
Acadia. They captured Port Royal and two smaller posts; 
dismantled the forts and returned to Massachusetts. The 
Acadians at Port Royal, with no fort or garrison, were soon 
visited by pirates who set fire to houses, killed their cattle, 
hanged some of the people, and burned one family after shut- 
ting them in their house. A new commander, Villabon, came 
from France, found the town unprotected, and decided to land 
the stores brought by his vessel at the French fort on the St. 
John river in New Brunswick. On his way to that place 
pirates captured his vessel, and he barely escaped with his life. 
He received aid from the Indians and renewed their friendship 
for the French. 

William and Mary of England gave a new charter to Mass- 
achusetts, and included in it the colony of New Plymouth, the 
province of Maine and Nova Scotia with the intervening lands. 
Villabon rallied the French and Indians at the fort on the St. 
John, and with this force captured Pemaquid, a fortification in 



EVANGKI.INK. 19 

New England. To avenge this, Colonel Church, with five 
hundred men, sailed from Boston and ravaged the country at 
many points on and near the Bay of Fundy. They burned 
churches and houses, killed the cattle, and cut the dykes. 

In 1696 Nova Scotia was restored to France by the treaty 
of Ryswick. Trouble arose over the fisheries. War again 
broke out. The French called the pirates to their aid. They 
came, and with the goods thus wrested from the New Eng. 
landers the French paid their Indian allies. Colonel Church 
came again in 1 704 , and again the country was ravaged. In 1 707 
a thousand men from New England attacked Port Royal, but 
were repulsed and forced to reembark. Again they landed and 
attacked, but we're again defeated. In 1710 another expedition 
came under General Nicholson, and this time Port Royal fell, 
to remain in the possession of the English. The French, how- 
ever, made many efforts to drive out their hereditary enemies. 
They endeavored to preserve the loyalty of the French settlers, 
they incited the Indians to attack the English, they attempted 
to bring help from Quebec and France, and at least three at- 
tempts were made to recapture Port Royal. But all in vain. 
Nova Scotia w^as finally ceded to England by the treaty of 
Utrecht in 1713. Port Royal was now named Annapolis in 
honor of Queen Anne. 

For many years few settlers came, on account of fear of at- 
tacks by the French and Indians. Canada and Cape Breton 
were still French, and from the latter place came aid and trade 
to the Acadians, and assaults upon English settlers. Eouis- 
burg was taken by an English force, but given back to the 
French in 1748 by treaty of Aix la Chapelle. Old boundary 
difficulties now arose; the French claiming that the treaty of 
Utrecht ceded only the peninsula to England. In 1749 two 
thousand five hundred seventy-six settlers arrived under the 
leadership of Edward Cornwallis. They selected a site, and 



20 



SVANGKi.i]sr:e. 




Kvangklin:^. 21 

founded the city of Halifax, named in honor of the Karl of 
Halifax, who had assisted the expedition. The French and 
Indians visited the settlers at Halifax, and tendered their sub- 
mission to the English authorities. Notwithstanding this 
submission, the Indians, probably assisted by some of the 
younger Acadians, attacked the town by night, and a number 
of settlers were killed in the forests or captured and sold at 
Louisburg. The governor of Halifax, to prevent these attacks 
and protect the outlying settlements, built a fort at Windsor 
and a blockhouse at Horton. He then called on the Acadians 
to take the oath of allegiance to the British crown. They 
still hoped for the French supremacy in Acadia, and they cer- 
tainly had reasons to expect it after the many preceding 
changes of ownership, and the repeated assurances of the French 
in Canada and Louisburg. In consequence they refused to 
take the oath, but again announced their submission to the 
English. The Indians remained actively hostile. At Dart- 
mouth, a settlement on the opposite side of Halifax harbor, 
four men were killed and scalped, and others carried off. 
Cornwallis organized parties to hunt the savages, and offered a 
reward of ten guineas for every Indian scalp. 

In order to strengthen their claim as to the boundary, the 
French built Fort Beau Sejour on the isthmus. Major Lawrence, 
in 1750, was sent to the isthmus and defeated the French and 
Indians. In 1752 Cornwallis returned to England, and Gov- 
ernor Hobson was sent out as his successor. In 1755 three 
thousand men under Monckton and Winslow were sent to dis- 
lodge the French. Beau Sejour and Gaspereaux, another post 
near by, were taken, and the garrisons sent to Louisburg under 
a six months' parole. 

NOTKS : 

1. Arcadia was the only southern state of ancient Greece 
that had no sea coast. It was one of the most picturesque 



22 KVANGELINE. 

regions of Greece, and perhaps of the world. Lake, mountains 
streams, forests, meadows, fountains, glens and caves wen 
there. Without seaports, people are not commercial. Tht 
inhabitants, therefore, were hunters and shepherds, quiet ancl 
peaceful, given to music and dancing. In modern languagei! 
the term Arcadian means either beauty of natural scenery oi! 
rusticity of manners. While the Acadians may have beer 
Arcadian in their manners, they did not live in Arcadia anc 
were not Arcadians. If the name Arcadia was used by somei 
early writers, it was an error caused by the similarity of the^ 
names. 

2. The peninsula of Nova Scotia is connected to New 
Brunswick by an isthmus twelve miles wide. The peninsula: 
is separated from Cape Breton Island, which is a part of the 
province, by the strait of Canso or Canseau. 

3. Granville, the site of the old Scotch settlement opposite^ 
Annapolis, was formerly called Caledonia, and is so named on^ 
the old maps. 



CHAPTER IV. 

The Exile. 

About this time the English met with reverses in Canada, 
and the Nova Scotia Governor feared another attempt by the 
French to regain the province. He believed that if that occurred 
the Acadians would join the invaders, and bring with them 
the Indians to prey upon the English settlers. He took coun- 
cil with his advisers, and it was decided to remove the Acadians 
from Nova Scotia, and scatter them through the other English 
colonies. Measures were taken to prepare for this without 
alarming the Acadians. Suspecting no serious trouble, the 
Acadians of Grand Pre, Minas and the adjoining settlements 
came together at their church at Grand Pre, in obedience to the 
summons of Colonel Winslow. This was on September 2nd, 
1755, when the Acadians were busy with their harvest. The 
majority of them attended and, to their horror and astonish- 
ment, were informed of their intended fate. 

"You are convened this day," he said, "by his Majesty's 

orders. 
Clement and kind has he been; but how you have answered 

his kindness 
Let your own hearts reply! To my natural make and my 

temper 
Painful the task is I do, which to you I know must be 

grievous. 
Yet must I bow and obey, and deliver the will of our 

Monarch: 
Namely, that all your lands, and dwellings, and cattle of 

all kinds 
Forfeited be to the crown: and that you yourselves from 

this province 

(23) 



^4 EVANGELINE. 

Be transported to other lands. God grant you may dwell 

there 
Rver as faithful subjects, a happy and peaceable people ! 
Prisoners now I declare you, for such is his Majesty's 

pleasure!" 

Similar action was taken at Annapolis, Cumberland and 
other points; in all, about seven thousand souls were transpor- 
ted. The number collected at Grand Pre was one thousand 
nine hundred twenty-three. A few had escaped to the forest, 




Cape IJlomidoii rrom the IJa.sin of Minas. 

and to deprive them of sustenance all buildings were burned, 
crops destroyed and cattle driven away. In the district 
of Minas 255 houses, 276 barns, 155 outbuildings, 11 mills 
and one church were destroyed. On the 10th of September 
the people were put on board the transports. Heartbroken 
and despairing, this whole community was carried from the 
only homes many of its members had ever known. They 
could carry nothing with them but a few household goods. 
Their crops, on which they subsisted, were gone. Their houses, 



Evangklin:^. 25 

in which they were born and in which they had spent so many 
happy days, were in ashes. Their cattle were slaughtered or 
driven away. Their farms had forever passed from their owner- 
ship; and they themselves were carried to the English colonies 
along the Atlantic coast, and landed among a people hostile to^ 
the French nation, speaking a language unknown to them, of 
a religion at variance with theirs, and unwilling or unable to 
provide for their maintenance. Their condition was truly 
pitiable. Is it surprising that their sufferings and wrongs 
appeal to us strongly even at this late day? 

Some found their way to Louisiana where their language 
was spoken; some went to the western frontier and engaged in 
hunting and trapping; some went to Canada; others remained 
among the English; a number were sent to England by the 
people of Virginia and South Carolina, after asking the Gover- 
nor of Nova Scotia for money for their support; a few found 
their w^ay back to Nova Scotia, and, joining those who had 
escaped exile, formed little settlements; and their descendants 
live^to-day in their Acadian land and still preserve the old dress 
and customs of their forefathers. 

"Still stands the forest primeval; but under the shade of its 

branches 
Dwells another race, with other customs and language. 
Only along the shore of the mournful and mystic Atlantic 
Linger a few Acadian peasants, whose fathers from exile 
Wandered back to their native land to die in its bosom. 
In the fisherman's cot the wheel and the loom are still busy; 
Maidens still wear their Norman caps and their kirtles of 

homespun, 
And by the evening fire repeat Evangeline's story." 

Some of the Acadians had signified their willingness to take 
the oath of allegiance when they saw that exile was forthcom- 
ing, but this privilege was refused them. They had asked to 



26 EVANGEIvINK. 

be permitted to remove to the French colony in Louisburg, but 
this had been refused on the grounds that it would add to the 
strength of the force already there, and increase the danger of 
incursions. They had been threatened with removal, but did h 
not fully understand the penalty. Something had to be done 
to settle this vexed Acadian question ; but we shudder as we 
contemplate the full results of the settlement as carried out. 
After the exile of the Acadians, the home government desired 
that the land should be occupied by disbanded soldiers. The 
governor of Nova Scotia objected, claiming that they were not 
the proper material for a new colony. The governor was per- 
mitted to adopt his own plans, and he proceeded to invite set- 
tlers from New England, through the provincial agent at 
Boston. As a result several hundred settlers came from 
Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island. 

The power of the French in the new world was rapidly 
waning. In 1758 Louisburg surrendered to Amherst, Prince 
Edward's Island was taken soon after, and in 1759 Quebec fell. 
By this final victory the English became masters of all Canada. 
By the treaty of Paris in 1763, the French gave up all claim to 
Nova Scotia, Cape Breton, Canada, and many islands in the 
Gulf of St. Lawrence. 

When the American Revolution broke out and the Thirteen 
United Colonies declared themselves free and independent in 
1776, the province of Nova Scotia remained loyal to the crown, 
although there was some dissatisfaction. Immediately after 
the close of the war Nova Scotia received a large addition to 
its population by the emigration of loyalists from the states. 
Between fifteen thousand and twenty thousand of these refu- 
gees landed at different ports of the province. Many of them 
found homes in the valley that was the former home of the 
Acadians. 



^VANGKLINK. 27 



NOTES. 



1 . The people of Acadia were mainly the descendants of 
lolonists brought out by Isaac de Razilly and Charnise between 
he years 1633 and 1638. These colonists came from Rochelle, 
^aintonge, and Poitou, so that they were drawn from a very 
imited area on the west coast of France, covered by the mod- 
ern departments of Vendee and Charente Inferieure. This 
ircumstance had some influence on their mode of settling the 
ands of Acadia, for they came from a country of marshes, 
^here the sea was kept out by artificial dykes, and they found 
n Acadia similar marshes, which they dealt with in the same 
Nay that they had been accustomed to practice in France. — 
Ha7i7iaf s History of Acadia. 

2. The Gaspereau is a stream flowing from the southwest 
into the Basin of Minas, near Grand Pre. At its mouth the 
A^cadians embarked. This must not be confused with the post 
Df the same name on the isthmus. 

3. The Cornwallis mentioned as the governor of Nova 
Scotia, was not the CornwalHs of the Revolution. 



CHAPTER V. 
Thk Acadian Land. 

••A land which floweth with milk and honey." 
''And ye shall dispossess the inhabitants thereof 
and dwell therein." 

The site of the first settlement by De Monts, and the region 
made famous by Longfellow's poem, are both in the valley 
formed by two ridges of highlands called the North and the 
South mountain. This valley extends through the counties of 
Annapolis and King's. The North mountain fronts on the 
shore of the Bay of Fundy, and extends from Digby Cut, at the 
entrance to Annapolis Basin, northeastwardly to Capes Blom- 
idon and Split at the entrance of the Basin of Minas. The 
South mountain is neither as steep nor as high as the North, 
but extends nearly parallel to it. To the westward through 
this valley, runs the Annapolis river, emptying into Annapolis 
Basin at the site of old Port Royal. In the broader eastern 
end of the valley, which drains into Minas Basin, there are many 
streams: — the Gaspereau, Cornwallis, Canard, Pereau and 
Habitant rivers. The land drained by these rivers is the most 
fertile and highly cultivated of any in the province. It is fitly 
called the "Garden of Nova Scotia. " Along the western shore 
of Minas Basin, from Grand Pre to the foothills of the North 
Mountain, are the dyke .lands reclaimed from the sea by the 
French and their successors. This dyke land is the most val- 
uable of the many soils found in the valley. In most instances 
of alluvial deposits in other parts of the world, the deposit is 
brought to the sea by the rivers. Here we find the process is 

(28) 



EVANGELINK. 



29 




Map of Annapolis and Kings Counties. 



30 KVANGELINE. 

reversed, and the deposit is brought up the rivers by the sea. 
This alluvial matter comes from the shores and bottom of the 
basin and bay, from whence it is torn by the mighty tides 
which ever sweep back and forth through their channels. The 
torrent sweeps up the Bay of Fundy and enters the Basin at 
Cape Split, where it reaches a velocity of ten or twelve miles 
an hour. Here it reaches its greatest height of seventy feet 
above low water mark. In some of the Acadian rivers, the 
upward f\o\\ of the tide against the fresh water current forms 
a wall of water called the bore of the tide. This sweeps up 
the stream at a rapid rate, and with a loud rushing sound. The 
height of the bore illustrated on page 42 is 5 feet 4 inches. 

The largest unbroken tract of dyke land in the province 
is the Grand Pre, or Great Meadow, in Horton. This tract 
the Acadians reclaimed by building dykes from either end 
of Long Island to the mainland. South of Long Island, 
where the upland rises from the Grand Pre, was the village of 
the Acadians. In the field just in front of the row of old 
French willows, can still be seen the cellar of the house which 
is supposed to be the one used as Colonel Winslow's head- 
quarters during his momentous visit. Here, too, is the site of 
the village church. The old French well marks the site of the 
village green, and a little farther eastward was the Acadian 
cemetery. The village probably extended irregularly from the 
church southward to the higher lands. Along the line of the 
village street may be seen many willows, the old French apple 
trees, the grave of an English soldier who died at the time of 
the exile, and the site of the village smithy. To the north- 
ward of the row of willows first mentioned, stretches the great 
meadow from which the village received its name; and beyond 
that is Long Island, easily distinguished by the trees and 
houses upon it. 



EVANG^UN^. 



31 










o cs o 



Co 



01 
»-l ^ ♦J 

•^ c "^ 



lie 



:: OT d 






32 " EVANGKLINK. 

"And away to the northward 

Blomidon rose, and the forests old, and aloft on the 
mountains 

Sea fogs pitched their tents, and mists from the mighty 
Atlantic 

Looked on the happy valley, but ne'er from their station 
descended." 
Blomidon is plainly seen to the northward, and very often 
the * 'mists from the mighty Atlantic" roll in great masses over 
the top of the North mountain and hide much of it from view. 
At such times the mist or fog rarely descends to the valley. 
Great detached masses of fog often hang on the side or summit 
of Blomidon, and can be seen plainly from the land or from 
the waters of the Basin. Blomidon is a bluff headland of red 
sandstone, surmounted by a perpendicular wall of basaltic trap, 
the whole about six hundred feet high. This headland is a 
rich field for the geologist, as the varieties of specimens found 
are numerous and interesting. In the spring, after the severe 
frosts of winter, great masses are detached from its sides, and 
crash downward to be ground by the relentless tides. The I 
geologist must work among these masses at low water, because 
at high tide the sea washes the face of the cliff. Many beauti- 
ful specimens of amethyst are found. The underlying sand- 
stone is worn away by tidal action, and this hastens the fall 
of the trap rock from above. 

The soil of the dyke lands consists mainly of a large per- 
centage of silica, the iron which gives the reddish color, cal- 
careous matter, and various salts of potash, lime, alumina, etc. 
This combination is a most favorable one, and its fertility is 
increased by sediment brought by the streams from the uplands. 
For nearly two hundred years these dyke lands have been pro- 
ducing from two to four tons per acre of the finest hay, and 
have also furnished autumn pasturage for cattle. The marsh 
mud is taken from tidal streams or rivers in autumn or winter, 



^VANGELINB. 33 

and used as a fertilizer on the uplands, with excellent re- 
sults. 

Apples and potatoes are the principal products of the valley, 
and are shipped mostly to England and the West Indies. 
Grapes, berries, plums, cherries, and various vegetables are 
successfully raised. Wheat, rye, and oats are a profitable crop, 
but the amount produced is much smaller per acre than on 
the prairies of our west and northwest. The longevity of 
apple trees is apparent when we notice, as stated above, that 
apple trees planted by the French are still living. The forests 
supply spruce, fir, pine, hemlock, birch, beech, maple, oak, 
elm, and other woods, — in fact nearly all the varieties required 
for housebuilding and shipbuilding. The sea supplies cod, 
herring, mackerel, lobsters, salmon, shad, smelts, gaspereau 
or alewives, haddock, pollock, flounders, sea-bass, sturgeon, 
and many other fish; while the streams contain an abundance 
of speckled trout. 

In the woods are moose, caribou, bear, the timber wolf, fox, 
lynx, wild-cat, porcupine, rabbit and skunk. Otter, mink and 
musk-rat are in the streams and ponds. Of birds there are 
geese, ducks, plover, snipe, woodcock and partridge. From 
the fields and woods are gathered checkerberries, hazel nuts, 
beech nuts, strawberries, blueberries, huckleberries, cranber- 
ries, juniper berries, red raspberries, blackberries, gooseber- 
ries, bunchberries, and spruce gum. The dainty and beautiful 
mayflower abounds. 

In this short chapter we can learn but little of the many 
resources and advantages of this wonderful country, but we 
certainly are convinced that it is "a land which floweth with 
milk and honey." 

NOTIJS. 

1. Dyke lands are worth from $300 to $400 per acre. 

2. The amount given as the maximum yield per acre of 



34 KVANGELINK. 

hay on the dyke lands is four tons. This is considered fairly 
accurate, as the author knows of a yield of 44 T. 1800 lbs. from 
ten acres, and can furnish data from many reliable sources that 
place the amount at the figures given. 

3. It is stated on good authority that four hundred bushels 
of potatoes were grown on one acre of ground near Kentville. 

4. The name "gaspereau" is a local name applied to the 
alewives, for the reason that the Gaspereau is the only stream 
they ascend from the Basin of Minas. The Gaspereau is the 
only one of these streams that has its source in a lake, and the 
alewives probably seek this lake for spawning. 

5. King's County raises 225,000 bushels of potatoes yearly. 
The estimated yearly apple product of King's and Annapolis 
counties is 500,000 bbl. 



CHAPTER VI. 

The: Succkssors. 

"Dwells another race with other customs and language." 

The settlers who came to the valley after the Exile, were a 
hardy and industrious people. As many of them came from 
New England, they brought with them the customs, dress, 
habits and religious views of New England. These were 
somewhat modified by the presence of settlers from Great 
Britain, and the trade with that country. We know but little 
of the social condition and affairs of these people during the 
first years of the occupation, but, as they were without rail- 
road, telegraph or steamboat, it is fair to presume that there 
was little change previous to the year 1800. 

The houses were warmed and the cooking done by means 
of the fireplace, with its necessary andirons, shovel, tongs, 
poker, bellows, crane, bake-kettle and brick oven. The baking 
was mainly done in the brick oven. Quarters of meat, six or 
eight loaves of bread, a loaf of cake, and a half dozen pies was 
considered no unusual quantity to put into one oven at one 
time. Often a loaf of bread or cake, or a pudding, was baked 
in the bake-kettle over the fire. The bake-kettle was a round 
iron kettle about ten inches deep, and had an iron cover. It 
was hung on the crane over a slow fire. When baking, coals 
were put on the cover. The baking thus done was very satis- 
factory. Often, what was called short-cake, made like our 
biscuit, was baked before the fire in a long handled frying pan, 
the handle resting on a chair. Pancakes were fried in this 
same pan, and the cook would turn the cake without knife or 
lifter, but by a quick movement of the hand and arm. One 

(3.5) 



36 KVANGKLINK. 

young lady was thus frying cakes while a young man, who 
was greatly interested in her, sat in the chimney corner watch- 
ing her dexterously turning them. Something that confused 
her must have been said, for she missed the turn on one, and it, 
landed in his lap, raw side down. 

Everyone kept sheep. The sheep were sheared , the wool was 
picked and greased, and taken to the carding machine, where it 
was made into rolls. It was then taken home, and spun into 
yarn on the big wheel. From there it went to the loom where 
it was woven into blankets, and cloth for men's clothes and 
women's dresses for everyday use. No young lady was ready 
to be married until she had prepared a stock of home made 
blankets, so much needed in that climate. 

Flax was raised, cleansed of the tow, or hard part, on the 
hatchel, a board with long iron teeth, and spun on the little 
wheel. The product was then woven, and this too was an im- 
portant part of a young lady's dowry, 

Wheat bread and rye bread were used; also much corn 
meal. "Fine bread was of wheat, "coarse bread" was of 
rye. Coal oil came into use about 1840. Before that time, 
and to a great extent for many years after, the light used was 
from dipped or moulded candles. 

At church the conduct of old and young was governed by 
rigid rules. All actions in the house of God were most sedate 
and exemplary. Sunday school began at 9:00 A. m. and lasted 
until 10:45. Then an intermission of fifteen minutes was given 
for children to walk in the graveyard, read the inscriptions on 
the tombstones, and eat their lunches. Church services began 
at 11 o'clock. After the sermon, liberty w^as given to anyone 
desiring to speak. In the Presbyterian church they sang the 
Psalms of David, in the Baptist church Watts' hyms were 
used, and with the Methodist church came Wesley's hymns. 
Pews were either owned or rented. When a family had entered 



KVANGKLINK. 



37 



their pew the door was closed and buttoned. Many pews had 
a low seat along one side for the children, who were not 
allowed to be conspicuous. During the prayer all stood and 
faced about, except in the Methodist church, where all knelt. 
The negro pews were in the gallery. Negroes were not 
allowed to enter the body of the church. 

Little girls wore short dresses, as they do now, but with 
pantalets down to the shoe-tops. Their shoes were not high 




Port Williams Bridge, Cornwallis Kiver, Tide out. 

laced or buttoned, but low, with two or three pairs of eyelets 
for laces. Their hats had very broad brims. Beads of glass, 
West India peas, or gold were much worn. The boys wore 
long pants and boots, short jackets, and flat topped caps with 
glazed visors. After the days of stocks, knee-pants and large 
buckles, the men wore white beaver hats, "swallow-tailed" 
coats with brass or horn buttons, vests of various colors, and 
white or black trousers. For work in the woods in winter, 
many men wore rawhide moccasins. In winter, the older men 



38 EVANGEUNE. 

wore long camelot cloaks fastened at the throat by a chain. 
The old ladies wore long cloaks of broadcloth or shepherd's 
plaid. Large bonnets were worn, and in due time came the 
kind called the "scoop" bonnet. 

Children did not have the toys and playthings of to-day. 
A wax doll or a London doll was a luxury and rarity. A 
whole family of rag dolls usually inhabited the garret. An 
old dormer window was also a favorite play house. 

At school, the desks consisted of a board placed slantwise, 
and extending along the wall on three sides of the school-room. 
In front of this "desk" was a bench for the pupils, and under 
the "desk" was a horizontal board for the books. When the 
pupils wrote they faced the wall; when they studied or recited 
they swung their feet over the bench and faced the center of 
the room. Classes studied their spelling aloud and in unison, 
swaying together on the bench as the cadence rose and fell. 
When a school became crowded, a double "desk" with its 
benches was built down the middle of the room. Most school- 
houses were built with a dungeon, a small room with no win- 
dows, for the confinement of refractory pupils. Quill pens 
were used, and the teacher kept them in repair. When the 
school had a lady teacher, all the girls took their "work" and 
learned to sew. The teacher basted most of the work. After 
learning to sew, each girl was expected to work a "sampler," 
which was a small square of canvas, around the edge of which 
a vine with fruit was worked with crewels. Inside the vine 
was the name of the worker, her age, the alphabet, and some- 
times a motto, a bird or an animal. The boys had but few 
playthings except those made with a jack knife. They played 
ball, hide and seek, tag and various other games similar to those 
of to-day. Girls and boys played together "Old Mother Hop- 
pity Clink," "Thornaway," "The Spanish Knight" or "The 
Rich Widow." 



EVANGELINE. 



39 



Mother: 



Knight: 



Mother : 



Knight: 



SPANISH KNIGHT. 

*'My daughter Jane she is too young 

To be ruled by your false, flattering tongue.' 

"Then fare-thee-well, my lady gay, 
For I must turn another way." 

"Turn back, turn back, ye Spanish Knight, 
And scour your boots and spurs so bright." 

"My boots and spurs they cost you naught, 
For in this town they were not bought; 
So, fare-thee-well, my lady gay, 
For I must go another way. ' ' 



RICH WIDOW. 

"I am a rich widow; 

I live all alone; 

I have but one daughter 

And she is my own. 

Come choose you a good one 

Or choose you none." 

The young men gathered birch bark, which was used to 
make ''lighters" for lighting the candles, kindling fires, and 
also to spread on the house under the shingles, to keep out the 
cold of winter. They gathered rushes for bottoming chairs. 
They gathered the moss from the uplands, and in summer the 
parlor fireplace was filled with it. In forest or field they saw 
blackbirds, jays, bob-o' -links, robins, the great snowy owl, the 
big brown owl, and the little screech owl. The little red 
squirrel was common, crows and gulls were numerous, and in 
some localities the raven was found. The housewife gathered 
for medicinal uses lobelia, catnip, boneset, tansy, wormwood, 



40 KVANGEWNK. 

motherwort, celandine, pith elder and sumac. From th( 
shores and mud flats came an abundance of clams and scallops 
called by the people "skim shells," because they were exten 
sively used for skimming milk. 

From the rocks, at low water, was picked an edible sea weec 
called dulse. 




Port Williams Bridge, Cornwallis River, Tide in. 
NOTES. 

1. The English custom of turning to the left when meet- 
ing on the highway was adopted. 

2. The principal roads running east and west through this 
part of the valley were called streets. 

3. In one of the old church-yards was a head-stone at the 
grave of "Hannah English and Child, 1767." This head- 
stone was broken, through age or accident, and in the summer 
of 1897 it was stolen by some relic hunting tourist. 



CHAPTER VII. 

Thk Successors — Continukd. 

The principal market for their products was Halifax, about 
;ixty-five or seventy miles away. Two or three times a year 
:he trip to market was made. If the load was light, one horse 
A^as used; if heavy, three to five horses were driven tandem. 
The produce taken consisted of mutton, pork, cheese, eggs, 
^eese, chickens, butter, apples, hay, and dozens of pairs of 
socks and mittens. Geese were sold per piece, and chickens by 
the pair, all cleaned and ready to cook. Prices varied, but 
were about 5c to 7c for mutton, 50c for geese, and 25c to 40c 
per pair for chickens. They brought back cotton cloth, ribbons, 
thread, sugar, silks, rum and molasses. The country stores 
kept a general stock from shingle nails to West India rum. 
The dry goods came from England. The currency was pounds, 
shillings and pence, consisting of English gold, silver and cop- 
per, with one pound and five pound notes of paper. Spanish 
and French coins were also in circulation. 

The vehicles used were the "OneHoss Shay," the gig, the 
caracole, and later the wagonette. For hauling loads they 
used the wagon and the ox-cart. One variety of the latter, 
with broad wooden rims and no tire, was used on the soft ground 
of the dyke lands. To draw the stage coaches, four or six 
horses were used. The plows had wooden mould-boards covered 
with strips of band iron, and the shares were made and fitted 
to the mould-boards by the blacksmiths. All muskets and 
fowling pieces were flint-locks. Water was drawn from the 
wells by means of the well-sweep. Much of the travel was on 
horseback, and saddle-bags and pistol holsters were in common 

(41) 



42 



KVANGELINB, 



use. In winter the warming-pan, a large, round, shallo\ 
metal pan with a metal cover and a long handle, was filled wil 
live coals from the fireplace, and pushed between the blanke' 
to warm the beds before retiring. 

These people had a firm belief in witchcraft, ghosts, sign; 
and charms. A black cat shut in the oven and a wish mac 




The -'Bore" of the Tide. Height of Wave, 5 ft. 4 in. 

for some one to come, would certainly bring the person wished 
tor. A black cat put under a tub would prevent any one from 
coming. The tongs turned upside down would bring the one 
wished for. 

A woman once put a black cat under a tub, to prevent the 
coming of some one from over the water. Such a violent 
and terrible storm arose that she became frightened, let the cat 
out, and the storm abated at once. 



KVANGKI.INE. 



43 



Here and there were old women, said to be witches. People 
ring near them could not get their butter to come; cattle were 
:k or chickens died, and of course the old woman had bewitched 
.em. One old woman in particular, had often been known 
. disappear suddenly, while walking up a steep hill in company 
ith others. Her companions, on proceeding to the top of the 
.11, would find her seated there quietly waiting for them, with 
) traces of effort or fatigue. A horse-shoe was often placed 
/er the door, to counteract or prevent the witches' influence, 
inger-nails were cut on Friday to prevent the toothache, 
ne old lady, while cutting her nails on that day, gave as her 
tason for so doing, that it was a sure preventive of tooth- 
:he. She had not, at that time, a tooth in her head. The new 
lOon, first seen over the right shoulder, brought good luck; 
ien over the left shoulder, it brought bad luck. When seen 
ver the right shoulder and a wish made, the wish would surely 
e fulfilled. Among the young people it was said, that the first 
nmarried person of the opposite sex, seen on St. Valentine's 
lorning, would be the future companion of the person so 

seing. 

Hallow-e'en was celebrated in various ways. That was the 
ivorite time for working charms, and seeking knowledge of the 
Liture. Spirits walked the earth on that night, and therefore 
ome supernatural effects were to be expected. If a young lady 
ook a handful ot hemp seed, and walked once around the out- 
ide of the house, sowing the seed as she walked, and repeating 
hese words: 

"Hemp seed, I sow thee. 
Whomsoever I'm to have 
Come after me and mow thee," 

md looked over her shoulder as she completed the circuit, she 
vould certainly see the mate of future years. 



44 KVANGKlylNE. Ij 

If yarn, unwound from a ball in the hand, be let down s 
well, a pull would be felt, and the holder must ask who it was: 
in answer, a name would be pronounced from the depths of the 
well. 

Cabbage was migratory on Hallowe'en. From the gardenj 
of those who had a large quantity, it mysteriously traveled t( 
the homes of the poor, who had little or none. Gates changed 
places, and other strange doings occurred; but no damage was 
done to property. 

In fixing the time for planting or sowing, making soapj 
and for many other operations, strict attention was paid to th 
phases of the moon, and much dependence placed upon choos 
ing a favorable time according to that luminary. 

A popular ghost story was to the effect that a ghost visited^ 
the living, after they had retired for the night, and that a cold 
clammy hand was pressed upon them, coming unexpectedly 
out of the darkness. Once a girl, a firm believer in ghosts 
had been listening to this, and similar stories told around the 
fireplace in the evening. She went up to her room, feeling 
very nervous and frightened. On getting into bed, she covered 
up her head in dread of she knew not what. To her horror 
she felt a soft pressure on her feet. This soft touch stole to- 
ward her head, gradually and silently. She tried to scream, 
but could not. But, in her agony, she at last heard, near hei 
head, a sound that ended the trouble. It was the purring ol 
her pet cat. The "ghost" was at once joyfully recognized. 

At various times and places, ghostly noises were heard, such 
as groans, and the rattling of chains; but we suspect that the 
solution in each case would have been as simple as that of the 
ghostly hand we have just read of. 

Many were the stories of pirates' gold and Captain Kidd's 
treasure. On the face of the cliff at Blomidon, a cave was said 
to exist, that contained a vast quantity of treasure. Some 



KVANGEWNE. 



45 



renturesome spirits tried to reach and explore it. They returned 
mpty handed, saying that they found the entrance guarded by 
L great serpent. This was in summer. Later they went again, 
Ind this time said they were driven back by a skeleton sentinel, 
Lrmed with a sword and a blunderbuss. A third time the effort 




The pipe stems and pipe bowls are from Acadian cellars.. Bit of wood at 
extreme rSht Is from French apple tree. The three shells m front are the 
Slop or '^kim'' shells. The bottle completely covered with basket work 
was covered by Micmac Indians. The old Bible in center is the one mentioned 
m the note The other articles shown belonged to the early settlers of the 
province some were brought from Scotland and England and some came 
from Conne?tTcul about 1780. Among them are copper articles, horn spoons 
and some very old china. 

was made by those who knew the secret of the difficult way to 
the cave. This time they took with them a charm procured 
from a negro voodoo doctor, which was proof against spirits or 
snakes. When they neared the cave, they discovered an armed 
party of rough characters in ambush in the woods, ready to 



46 EVANGKUNE. 

take by force any treasure they might secure. A third time 
they returned unsuccessful, and soon after this, the cave was 
hidden, and the path to it carried away, by a fall of rock. 

The Isle au Haut, in the Bay of Fundy, was believed to 
contain buried treasure, but it was asserted that when a party 
landed from a vessel, and began to dig in a certain place, a 
violent storm arose, which threatened to tear the vessel fromi 
its moorings. When the party rushed to the beach, the sea 
and air at once became still; but upon their return to their 
digging, the same disturbance occurred, and they were forced 
to abandon further effort for treasure. 

An old man died, who had been considered as a blasphemer 
by the stricter church people. Those who watched with him 
at his death declared that just as the spirit left his body, a 
beast, resembling a great black dog, came from under the bed, 
sprang through the window, and vanished in the night. 

At one of the inns, numerous guests had refused to remain 
a second night, in a certain room of the house. They one and 
all declared that they heard a voice saying repeatedly, ''Want 
to be shaved?" "Want to be shaved?" The landlord investi- 
gated, and found that a tree branch, blown by the wind, raked 
across the window with a noise that was almost an exact re- 
production of the words the guests said they had heard. 

An old clock, that had been in a certain family for many 
years, is said to have foretold the death of at least five members 
of that family, by striking between the hours, with no mistake 
in the strikes of the following hour. This was solemnly as- 
serted by several members of the family, who said they heard it. 

Suicide was almost unheard of. One case occurred, of 
which we have record. An old lady took her own life; and, 
according to the old law, she was buried where four roads met, 
and a stake was driven through the body. 

The young folks were thoroughly taught lessons of polite- 



HVANGELINE. 



47 



less. Boys, on entering a school-room, bowed to their teacher. 
3n entering a room in a house, or while walking on the high- 
N3.y, they always bowed to their elders. Girls, on similar 
Dccasions, ''dropped a courtesy." One girl, who had been 
ihoroughly drilled in these matters, was one day walking on 
[he road, when she met a funeral. Mindful of her training, 
she stopped, and courtesied to each person in the procession. 

Before leaving this chapter we will notice a little story of 
one of the school-masters of the old times. Some mischievous 
neighboring boys poked a stick through his pantry window at 
night, knocking down a pile of pans. His wife, awakened by 
the noise, called him and told him there were thieves in the 
house. His reply was, "Ann, get the broom and drive 'em 
out."— And immediately he resumed his sleep. 



NOTKSj 



1. The author has in his possession the Bible of the old 
lady who committed suicide. The book was printed in 1725. 

2. One boy, when not quite 14 years old, repeatedly made 
the trip to Halifax with his load of produce. When we con- 
sider his age, the value of his load, the distance traveled, 
stopping at inns among strangers, the then wild country 
through which he drove, and the great amount of purchases 
made for the return journey after marketing his produce, we 
consider this quite an achievement. 



CHAPTER VIII. 
The Acadians and Acadian Rki.ics. 

Many tales were told regarding valuables concealed by the 
Acadians. It was declared by many that descendants of the 
French came to the province at various times, and dug up 
treasure left by their ancestors. It must be true, for had they 
not seen "with their own eyes" the hole where the digging 
was done? Much, if not all, of this digging was done by young 
men of the neighborhood, who were searching for the traditional 
wealth of the Acadians. The truth of the matter is probably 
this: The Acadians were not a wealthy people. They had 
little or no money, and but few articles of value. If they owned 
any jewelry it was probably in the form of heirlooms of such 
small size that they could easily be worn, or hidden in the 
household goods which they were permitted to take away with 
them. They knew that they would not return, and they would 
not be likely to bury such articles as the ones mentioned, and 
under such conditions. 

A region that is as important to the student of Acadia and 
its Acadian remains as any in the valley, not excepting Grand 
Pre, is the country on the north side of the road leading from 
Upper Canard to Upper Dyke Village. Three or four French 
orchards stood here, and the remains of numerous French 
cellars and wells prove the previous existence of an Acadian 
settlement of considerable importance. In the old days, many 
articles used by the Acadians were found here. A descendant 
of the Acadians came to this region many years ago, and made 
careful inquiry and thorough search for an apple tree contain- 
ing some links of a chain. He said that his ancestors had left 

(48) 



EVANGKI.INK. 49 

articles buried near this tree; and if the tree were found he 
could find the articles buried, by following directions handed 
down to him. His search was in vain; but he found an old, 
white-haired negro who remembered the chopping of the tree. 
He could tell the orchard it was in, but could not locate the 
position of the tree. He remembered the finding of the chain, 
and described it accurately. 

Some of the old French wells are still used. A very old 
Frenchman lived in this neighborhood as late as 1825. His 
house was said to be one that escaped burning by the English. 
It is probable that every Acadian cellar (and some that are not 
Acadian) has been probed in the useless search for valuables. 
Many a sturdy apple tree was undermined by the searchers, 
and many articles, considered valueless by them, but of greatest 
value to the collector or student of today, were lost or destroyed. 

Near Port Williams, there was a deep place in the Cornwallis 
river, into which, tradition tells us, the French cast their valu- 
ables from the church. Another tradition is to the effect that 
the bell from the church at Grand Pre was filled with gold 
and silver articles, and sunk in the mud of the marshes. 

The apples of the Acadians were of both sweet and sour 
varieties. They were not large apples, but the trees yielded 
large crops. 

The Acadian relics that are actually found consist of a few 
articles, most of them rudely made, that tend to prove that 
they were used by a people who were poor as to money or 
articles of value; that things of luxury were unknown to them; 
and that they toiled to cultivate the soil, reclaim the marshes, 
and raise their crops and herds, to supply themselves with food 
and clothing. From the fields and cellars, are dug, from time 
to time, old ploughshares, coulters, spades, hoes, axes, hatchets, 
hammers, scythes, pitchforks, wrought-nails, bits of glass of a 
poor quality, links of chain, iron kettles of difierent sizes, and 



50 



EVANGELINK. 



clay pipes and broken pipe stems. Some of these pipes bear the 
name of R. Tippet as the maker. Who R. Tippet was, and 
where the pipes were made, is a question not yet decided. 
Pipes of this same maker have been found in Indian graves of 
north-central New York, and on Manhattan Island. Were the 
pipes French, or were they English? 

If we look on the valley at the season described by Long- 
fellow when, 




Relics taken from the old French well at Grand Pre. 

"Filled was the air with a dreamy and magical light; and 

the landscape 
Lay as if new-created in all the freshness of childhood," 

and see through the "soft still air the Basin of Minas," and 
"the ships with their wavering shadows" lying at anchor, we 
do not think it strange that tales and legends were numerous 
among the Acadians and their successors. How could it be 
otherwise with such surroundings? We have no doubt of the 
existence of such stories and "signs" as: 

1. The finding of the lucky stone in the nest of the 
swallow. 

2. The luck attending the finding of a horseshoe. 



EVANGEUNE. 51 

3. The lyoup-garou or we re- wolf of the forest. 

4. The gobHii that came in the night to water the horses. 

5. The white I^etiche, the ghost of the child who 
unchristened died. 

6. The talking of oxen in the stables on Christmas eve. 

7. The curing of fever by a spider shut in a nut shell. 

8. The luck attending the finding of a four leaved clover. 

9. The signs of a hard winter, as foretold by the large sup- 
ply of honey laid up by the bees, and the unusually thick fur 
of the foxes. 

"With whatsoever else was writ in the lore of the village." 
The lines of the poem of Evangeline containing the state- 
ment that 

"At stated seasons the flood gates 

Opened, and welcomed the sea to wander at will o'er the 
meadows," 
have been criticized. 

In the Cornwallis valley it has never been necessary to 
admit the tides. When the dykes have been broken by a great 
storm, and the salt water has swept over the meadows, two or 
three years have elapsed before the grass fully recovered from 
the effects. But there is a foundation for the lines quoted 
above. In the Chignecto region there are tracts of marsh lands 
that do not contain the ingredients found in the dyke lands of 
other localities, and therefore their fertility does not endure. 
To renew them the sea is admitted at intervals, and by a new 
deposit their fertility is assured for another period. 

Notes : 

1 . It is interesting to note the agreement of the implements 
and articles mentioned in the poem with the list of relics found. 

2. Pipes have been found in the Acadian cellars in a posi- 
tion which verifies lyongfellow's line : 

"Take from the shelf overhead thy pipe and the box of 
tobacco." 



CHAPTER IX. 
Thk Indians. 

The native Indians of Nova Scotia were the Micmacs, and 
many members of this tribe still live in the province. The 
early Micmacs were a warlike tribe, wandering from place to 
place, hunting, fishing, or fighting with the tribes of the main- 
land. 

After gaining the friendship of the Indians, the Roman 
Catholic Missionaries taught them their religion and easily con- 
verted them to Christianity. 

In Micmac tradition the most important character is Gloos- 
cap. His deeds and character, and the veneration in which he 
was held, remind us most forcibly of the Hiawatha of the west- 
ern Indians or the Montezuma of Mexico. He was a combina- 
tion of the human and divine, and he provided human conven- 
iences for his people with omnipotent power and on a heroic 
scale. Minas Basin was his beaver pond, the dam being at 
Cape Split. Spencer's Island was his kettle turned upside 
down. All animals were obedient to his will. He could at 
any time call to his side the moose, the caribou, the bear and 
the lynx, and they promptly did his errands and carried on his 
work. He controlled the elements. When his enemies assem- 
bled in great numbers, intending to overthrow him, he extin- 
guished their fires, and called to his aid the armies of the frost, 
so that soon the hostile force was cold in death. He possessed 
the proverbial Indian hospitality to strangers, who were at all 
times welcome to his great wigwam on Partridge Island. 
Glooscap made the first man from a tree. He gathered ame- 
thysts from Blomidon and gave them to his favorites. While 

(52) 



^VANGBIvIN^. 53 

the dam existed, the waters filled the Annapolis valley. Becom- 
ing angered at the beavers who inhabited this pond, he struck 
the dam with his tomahawk, and the blow split the solid rock, 
as seen at Cape Split to this day. He then siezed with his 
hands a large portion of the dam and hurled it at the beavers. 
This mass so thrown is known today as the Five Islands. A 
large part of the pond was drained by this break in the dam, 
and the beavers fled, to return no more. 

Strange to relate, geologists support this tradition to a cer- 
tain extent, and tell us that the waters did cover the valley, 
until, by some great upheaval, they were forced within their 
present boundaries. Glooscap tamed the whale, and used him 
as a beast of burden. On the back of a whale he rode rapidly 
to places far distant across the waters. He dwelt for many, 
many years on Partridge Island, but when the white man came 
he decided to depart. He called together all the birds and 
animals, except the beavers, and gave them a grand farewell 
feast. At the close of the feast he bade them farewell, and 
departed in his canoe, in a manner similar to the departure of 
Hiawatha and Montezuma. After his departure, the birds and 
animals no longer understood one another, and there was great 
confusion and quarreling. The loons still call unceasingly for 
their friend, and the owls cry "Koo, Koo, Skoos!" "Koo, Koo, 
Skoos!"— meaning Oh, I am sorry! Oh, I am sorry! But 
Glooscap will surely come again; his kettle will be righted; his 
dogs, which he turned to stone when he departed, will be 
called to life; his unbounded hospitality will again be dispensed; 
beast, bird and man will again understand each other, and uni- 
versal peace and happiness will prevail. 

The later Indians were not hostile to the English-speaking 
settlers, and caused them but little trouble. They lived in 
their wigwams, built of birch bark in the summer, or of hem- 
lock bark and earth in the winter. They sold to the whites 



54 



evange:i,ink. 



baskets, birch-bark canoes, toboggans, snow-shoes, moccasin; ; 
and hides. Many of the articles made by the squaws werij 
ornamented with beads and porcupine quills of various colors 
They picked and sold berries and other products of the wood?; 
and fields. When game was plenty they brought flesh, fisl:| 
and furs to the settlements. 






Partridge Island, tbe home of Glooscap. Cape Split in the distance at left. 

Soon after the coming of the white man, small-pox made 
sad inroads among the Indians. I,arge numbers died of con- 
sumption, and any contagious disease seemed to take fierce 
hold upon them. 

The stone relics of the early Indians of Nova Scotia are 
comparatively scarce. Here and there are found the rude 
arrow-head or spear-head, and occasionally a stone implement, 
such as a celt, axe or pestle. Some authorities on archeology 
believe that most of these larger stone articles were made by 
other and distant tribes, and were brought to Nova Scotia by 



EVANGELINE. 55 

rade, or were captured during one of their occasional raids to 
he mainland. 

When the "Eighteen Hundreds" were young and few, 
n Indian was accidentally killed near Annapolis. A white 
lunter met him, and jokingly grasping his gun near the 
nuzzle, thrust it toward the Indian saying, "Will tka^ much 
dWyouf The startled Indian sprang to one side to get out 
f the range of the weapon, and in so doing stumbled and fell, 
triking his head on a sharp stone. He died at once from the 
effects of the wound so inflicted. The joker fled. The Indians 
hroughout the valley were greatly excited and threatened 
•evenge. Shortly after this occurrence, a lady with a baby in 
ler arms, was sitting in her house when the rest of her family 
Arere absent. Suddenly and quietly the outer door opened, 
md an Indian stepped into the room. Seeing that she was 
ilone, he asked fiercely "Who kill 'urn dat Ingun down 
Napolisway?" "lam sure I don't know," said she. The 
[ndian then drew a long knife from his belt and, advancing 
threateningly, shouted "Me kill um you, anyway." At that 
moment there was an interruption. A man who lived with 
the family, making and mending shoes for them and their 
neighbors, was working at his trade in an adjoining room. 
Hearing the last exclamation of the Indian, he seized a gun 
which stood in the corner, and rushed out saying "I guess 
I'll kiWyour' The Indian darted out of the door. The man 
followed and fired, and the Indian fell. After a moment he 
rose slowly to his feet and, apparently unhurt, ran like a 
scared deer. They never saw him again. 

Notes. 
1 . At the western extremity of Partridge Island the visitor 
to the summit may see an excellent outline of an Indian's face 
on the cliff wall. The likeness is rendered more startling by 



56 EVANGKIvINE. 

the reddish color of the rock of which it is composed. This i 
said to be the likeness of Glooscap; and that stolid face look 
forever directly down the Bay of Fundy, through the ga 
where the tides are ever rushing and swirling. 

2. Partridge Island is about 400 feet high. [See Illustra 
tion.] 

"Then blest Acadia! ever may thy name, 
Like Britian's, be graven on rolls of fame; 
May all thy sons, like hers, be brave and free, 
Possessors of her laws and liberty; 
Heirs of her splendor, science, pow'r and skill, 
And through succeeding years her children still. 
Then as the sun with gentle, dawning ray, 
From night's dull bosom wakes and leads the day, 
His course majestic keeps, till in the height 
He glows one blaze of pure exhaustless light, 
So may thy years increase, thy glories rise, 
To be the wonder of the western skies; 
And bliss and peace encircle all thy shore. 
Till sun and moon and stars shall be no more." 

Goldsmith. 



KVANGEJlwINK. 57 



NOTES AND REFERENCES. 

I. 

1. Primeval: — Never disturbed by the woodman's axe. 

The sound of the wind blowing through these trees is very similar 
to the distant sound of the surf. A light breeze causes a sound 
resembling a whispering. 

2. These festoons of moss may be seen today in many of the ever- 

green forests of N. S. 

3. Druids:— Vx'x^st^, or ministers of rehgion, among the ancient 

Celtic nations in Gaul, Britain and Germany. They frequent- 
ed or instructed in the forest, or sacrificed under an oak. 
Eld: — Old times, former days, antiquity. 

4. Harpers: See Walter Scott's Introduction to the "Lay of the 

Last Minstrel." 
Hoar: White, or grayish white; white with age. 
6. Wail: Loud lamentation or expression of sorrow. 

Roe: The female deer. Note the condition of the startled roe 
when followed by huntsman and hounds, as likened to the 
condition of the Acadians when they learned of their impend- 
ing fate. 
9. Thatch: Straw, hay, or rushes, used to cover the roofs of build- 
ings for protection from the elements. 
15. Grand Pre: Grand Prairie or Great Meadow. 
18. Tradition: That which is transmitted orally from father to son 
or from ancestors to posterity. 
Acadie: See Chapter III. 
See map of N. S. 
See Chapter V. 
See Note 1, Chapter IV. 
See Chapter VIII. 
See Chapter V. 

See Chapter V. Pitching a tent indicates an intention to remain. 
Fogs and mists hang over the ocean all about the coasts of N. 
S. , as well as in the nearby region of Newfoundland and its 
Banks. 
33. See Chapter V. 



58 e:vangki.in:K. 

34. Normandy: Ancient province of France, north-western pa 
People were descendents of the ancient Normans or Northm 
who settled there. 

There were four Henries of France. The reign of the Henri 
began in 1031. 

38. Vanes: Indicators showing direction of the wind. 

39. Kirtle: An upper garment; a gown; a short jacket; a mantle. 

40. Distaff: Staflf for holding the bunch of flax or wool from whi( 

the thread is drawn in spinning by hand. 

41. Looms: Machines for weaving the thread into cloth. 

Shuttles: Instruments for passing the thread of the woof fro 

one side of the cloth to the other, between the threads of tt 
warp. 

49. Angelus'. Angelus Domini is the name given to the bell whic 

called the people to prayer, in commemoration of the visit < 
the Angel of God to the Virgin Mary. See the picture calle 
"The Angelus." 

50. Incense: A mixture of fragrant gums, spices, etc. , used for prr 

ducing a perfume when burned. Used in religious rites or s 

an offering to some deity. 
62. Stalworth: Same as stalwart. 
66. See Chapter V. 
68. Kine: Cows. 

70. Flagons: Vessels with narrow mouths, used for liquors. 
72. Hyssop: A plant whose leaves have an aromatic smell and 

warm pungent taste. 
74. Chaplet: A string of beads used in counting prayers. 

Missal: The Roman Catholic mass -book. 
76. See Note 1, Chapter IV. 

84. Woodbine: The Honeysuckle; the Eglantine; Black Ivy. 
87. Penthouse: A shed standing aslope from the main wall or build 

ing; a lean-to. 
91. Bucket: Probably used with the well sweep. 

93. Wains: Wagons. 

94. Folds: Enclosures; pens. 
Seraglio: The palace of the Sultan, inhabited by himself, hij 

officers and dependents, and his wives. 
96. See Matthew XXVI: 74, 75. 



:ejvangki.ink. 59 

Weathercocks: So called because they were originally made in the 
form of a cock. Any device to show direction of the wind; a 
vane. The little wooden windmills are meant here. 
Mutation: Change or alteration. 

Knocker: An instrument fastened to a door, to be used in seek- 
ing admittance. 
Patron Saint: The saint regarded as the protector of the com- 
munity. 
See Tubal Cain, Vulcan, "The Village Blacksmith." 
Plain-so7ig: An ecclesiastical chant. 
See mention of smithy in Chapter V. 

Leathern lap: The leather apron worn by blacksmiths to guard 
their clothing from sparks. 
128. The tire is heated and placed on the wheel while still hot. On 

cooling it contracts and thus fits closdy to the rim. 
131. Bellows: An instrument for forcing air through a tube to blow 

the fire in the forge. 
135. In a hilly country, coasting is always a popular winter sport. 
137. It is said that if the mother swallow finds that one of her young 
is blind, she seeks a little stone on the shore of the sea. This 
stone she applies to the blind eyes, and restores the sight. 
145. The old proverb says: "If the sun shines on Saint Eulalie's day 
there will be plenty of apples, and cider enough." Saint 
EulaUe's day is Feb. 12th. 

149. The Zodiac is a belt 16° wide, 8° on each side of the ecliptic. It 

is divided into twelve so-called signs, each 30° in length. Each 
sign is indicated by picture of an object. The three signs 
of autumn are Libra, Scorpio, and Sagittarius; or the bal- 
ances, the scorpion, and the archer. 

150. Birds of passage: Those which migrate to the south in winter 

and to the north in summer. See Bryant's "To a Water 

Fowl." 

152, Refers to the winds which prevail at the time of the autumnal 

equinox, when the sun enters the sign of Libra, about Sept. 22d. 

153. See Genesis XXXII; 24. 

156. Indian hunters: Micmacs, Chapter IX. 
159. Same as our Indian Summer. 

All Saints Day is Nov. 1st. 

See last paragraph of Chapter VIII. 



60 KVANGKI.INK. 

168. The colors of the autnmn leaves. 

170. Xerxes found a beautiful plane tree, and became so enamorec 

with it that he adorned it with fine robes, necklace and jewels 

and placed a soldier to guard it. 
176. Heifer: A young cow. 
184. Regent: One who governs a kingdom during the minority, abt 

sence or disability of a sovereign. 

1 86. Late because they could work on the salt marshes only at low tide 

187. Briny hay: The so-called "salt" hay, a grass which grows or 

land overflowed by the sea at high tide. It is cut and pilec 
upon platforms in the marshes. After it is thoroughly dried 
or "cured" it is hauled to the farm yards. The wagons oj 
carts used for this work were similar to those described in 
Chapter VII. 
192. Udders: The milk glands of female mammals. 
193-4. Who that has heard this sound can ever forget it? 

205. Pewter: An alloy consisting chiefly of tin and lead. 

206. Armed men are often distinguished at great distances by the- 

gleam of their arms as the sun strikes them. The Federals,^ 
shut up in Chattanooga, first knew of the coming of troops sent 
to reHeve them, by the gleam of their rifle barrels seen far oveji 
the hills. II 

. 207. Carol: A song of joy or exultation. 

213. The spinning wheels give out a peculiar numming sound whend 
in use. | 

Bagpipe: A musical wind instrument of Scotland and Ireland.!, 
The air is pressed into the pipes from a leather bag. The bassi 
pipe is called the drone and the treble pipe is called the chanter. 
Thfe "drone" here mentioned is the monotonous sound which, 
comes from the drone. 

217. The sound gives the sense. Note the sound of the clock in the' 
pronunciation of the two words "clock clicked " 

225. See Note 2, Chapter VIII. 

228. Harvest moon: The moon near the full at the time of harvest, 

or about the autumnal equinox. 
231. ^^^^^^d^^ A popular, sentimental or narrative song in simple 

234. The luck in horseshoes is mentioned in Chapters VII and VIII 
249. See historical account. 



KVANGELINK. 



61 



250. See Chapters IV and VIII. 

261. Glebe: Turf; soil; sod. 

263. Inkhorn: This may mean simply an inkstand, or a case holding 
ink and pens. 

267. Notary: An officer authorized to attest or certify deeds, con- 
tracts and other writings, usually under his official seal, to 
make them authentic. Usually called Notary Public. See 

line 292. 
.73_4. See line 1261. 

i75-6. Either Queen Anne's or King George's war is meant. 
280. The story of the were-wolf is, according to an old tradition of 

France and various other European countries, that certain 

human beings have the power to turn themselves into wolves 

that they may devour children. 
282. Some white, wild animal probably gave rise to this story. 

284. This legend is probably a form of the old story that on Christ- 

mas eve, the cattle in the stables fall on their knees in adoration 
of the infant Savior, as the older legend says was done in the 
stable at Bethlehem. If cattle are disturbed when lying down 
they rise to their hind feet, then to their knees, and then 
to their front feet. On entering the stable with a dim light 
the cattle might be seen rising from their knees in this manner, 
and thus the story originated. 

285. In England a cure for ague was a spider shut up in a goose quill 

and hung about the neck. In the western states of the Union 
where ague was prevalent, it was said that swallowing a spider 
would cure the worst case of ague. 

286. The four-leaved clover is an emblem of good luck. 
306. An old Florentine story. See line 522. 

322*. Bronze: An alloy of copper with from ten to thirty per cent, of 
tin. Sometimes zinc is added. 

330. Brazen: Made of brass. 

344. Draughts: Checkers, so named from the drawing of the men 
from one square to another. 
J51-2. See line 1041. 

354. Curfew: From couvre-feu, or cover fire. In the Middle Ages a 
bell was rung at a certain hour, from seven to nine o'clock in 
the evening according to the custom of the place, warning all 
honest people to cover their fires and go to bed. The Normans 
introduced this custom in England. 



62 KVANGKLINS. 

371. Refers to the influence of the moon on the tides. 

381. See line 1095. Genesis XXI, 14. 

413. The first named song was written in the time of Henry IV. Th( 
second was a song sung to a tune played on the chimes o: 
Dunkirk. 

421. A drum beat sounded over the meadows. 

442. Solstice of summer: The time when the sun's rays are vertical 
at the Tropic of Cancer, June 21st. 

454. Spar: A mast, yard, boom or gaff. 

456. See Chapter IV. 

461. Chancel: That part of the church where the altar is placed. 

466. Tocsin: An alarm bell. 

470. Vigils: Devotional watching. 

476. See Luke XXIII, 34. 

484. Ave Maria: An invocation to the Virgin Mary. 

486. See 2d Kings, II, 11. 

492. Emblazoned: Adorned with armorial ensigns. 

498. Ambrosial: Delightful to the taste or smell. Ambrosia was 
the food of the gods of the ancients. 

507. See Exodus XXXIV, 33-35. 

533. See Note 2, Chapter IV. 

575. Refluent: Returning; ebbing. 

577. Kelp: A sea- weed. The ashes of kelp is used in the manufac- 
ture of glass. The slippery sea-weed mentioned has smaller 
leaves than the kelp. It sometimes covers the rocks and gives 
a very precarious footing. 

579. Leaguer: The camp of a besieging army. 

582. Nethermost: Lowest. 

597. See Acts XXVIII. Melita is Malta. 

615. Titans: Giants in Greek mythology who tried to deprive Saturn 
of his power in heaven, but were defeated and driven down 
into Tartarus by Jupiter, who hurled thunderbolts at them. 

621. deeds: Burning coals. 

The instructions of the governor to Winslow were: "You must 
proceed by the most vigorous measures possible, not only in 
compelling them to embark, but in depriving those who shall 
escape of all means of shelter or support by burning their 
houses, and by destroying everything that may afford them the 
means of subsistance in the country." 
See Chapter IV. 



EVANGELINK. ^^ 

357. Bell: The bell tolled to mark the passage of the soul to the other 

world. 
Book: The service book. 
560. Dirges: Funeral hymns. 
367. They sailed with the falling tide because they could then pass 

Cape Split with the current. Sailing vessels never attempt 

that passage against the tide. 
570. See Chapter IV. 
572. The almost perpetual fogs of this region are probably due to the 

meeting of the warm Gulf Stream and the cold Arctic Current. 
674. From the Great Lakes to the Gulf vStates. 
575. From the Atlantic to the Mississippi. 

676. The Mississippi often washes away its banks so that a new 

channel is formed during a single flood. See Kaskaskia. 

677. Bones of great extinct animals are found at various places in the 

Mississippi Valley. 

688. The trail leading to California through what was called the Great 
American Desert, was marked by the bones of thousands of 
cattle, mostly oxen, that died of thirst. At camping places the 
weak or worn out animals were often shot to end their misery. 

705. Coureiirs-des-hois: Men who accompanied the early fur traders of 
the north-west. They paddled the canoes, carried the goods and 
canoes at the portages, and a'^sisted to gather in the furs from 
the Indians. They were French or half-breeds. By living long 
among the Indians they acquired many of the Indian customs. 
Parkman's "Conspiracy of Pontiac," and "Discovery of the 
Great West" contain many references to these men. 

707. Voyageur: A river boatman. 

713. Saint Catherine of Alexandria and Saint Catherine of Siena were 
both celebrated for their vows of virginity. Hence the sayiug, 
meaning one devoted to a single life. 

)l-3. Refers to the ceaseless round of the moisture which rises from 
the sea by evaporation, is carried over the land in the form of 
clouds, falls in the form of rain, sinks into the earth, comes to 
the surface in the springs, thence to the brook and the river, 
and finally to the sea, where the journey begins again. 

732. Shards: Fragments of earthen vessels. 

733. Muse: A genius of art, literature or music. 
Essay: Endeavor; try. 



64 EVANGELINE. 

738. Sylvan: Forestlike; pertaining to the woods. See meaning of 
Pennsylvania; Selvas. See line 1253. 

741. The Indians named this river the Ohio or Beautiful River. On 

the earliest maps the latter name was applied to it. 

742. See map of U. S. 

743. Golden: Below the mouth of the Missouri the waters of the 

Mississippi have a yellow tinge caused by the yellow clay 
brought by the Missouri. 
750. Between the first of January and the 13th of May, 1765, about 
six hundred fifty Acadians had arrived at New Orleans. Lou- 
isiana had been ceded by France to Spain in 1762, but did not 
really pass under the control of the Spanish until 1769. The 
existence of a French population attracted the wandering 
Acadians, and they were sent by the authorities to form se^ 
tlements in Attakapas and Opelousas. They afterward formed 
settlements on both sides of the Mississippi from the German 
Coast up to Baton Rouge, and even as high as Point Coupee. 
Hence the name of Acadian Coast, which a portion of the 
banks of the river still h^2.x:^.— Gay arrets History of Louisiana. 

755. Chute: A rapid descent of the river. 

756. Probably cotton-wood trees are meant. 

757. Lagoons: Shallow ponds or lakes. 

758. Wimpling: Rippling or undulating. 
Pelicans: Web-footed water-fowl, larger than swans, having an 

enormous bill, to the lower edge of which is attached a pouch 
capable of holding many quarts. 
Perhaps the sweet orange is meant, as this was called the China 
orange. 
764. Golden Coast: A portion of the snore of the river. 

Citron: The tree which produces the -jitron of commerce. 
766. A bayou on the west side of the river. 
769. Tenebrous: Dark; gloomy; dusky. 

782. Mimosa: The sensitive plant. 

783. Possibly the reference is to the "Pale horse and his rider " Se 

Rev. VI, 8. 

784. Stroke of doom: The final calamity. The culmination of fate 

or destin3\ 
786-7. See lines 700, 1145, 1244. 

803. Desert: Here means a wilderness; a solitude. 

807. Lakes formed by a broadening of the river. ' 



75':) 



761 



KVANGBLINS. 65 

816. Washita or Ouachita was the Indian name for the male deer. 
The deer fed on the tender twigs of this willow. 

819. Cope: Anything extending over the head. 

820. Trumpet flower: The trumpet honeysuckle. 
821-2. See Genesis XXVIII, 10-12. 

837. Palmetto: A species of palm tree growing in southern states. 

See arms of State of S. C. 
840. Refers to 821-4. 

842. Tholes: Pins in the gunwale of a boat to keep the oars in the 

row-lock. 

843. Trance: A state in which the soul seems to have passed out of 

the body into another state of being, or to be wrapped into 

visions. 
853. Buoy: A float; used to mark channels, rocks or shoals. When 

a ship leaves her anchorage intending to return soon, the cable 

of the anchor is fastened to a buoy, thus saving the labor of 

hoisting and casting the heavy anchor. 
856. Teche (tesh) : A navigable bayou of La. 
865. Magician: A conjurer. 

Wand: A rod used by conjurers; supposed to possess magical 

charms. 
868-9. See line 11. 
871. See line 865. 

878. Bacchantes: Devotees of Bacchus, the god of wine. 
885. Amber: Resembling amber in color; yellowish. 

889. Mistletoe: A parasitic evergreen plant bearing a glutinous fruit. 

A variety grows in the southern states. When found upon the 
oak, where it is rare, it was an object of superstitious regard 
among the Druids. 

890. Yule-tide: Christmas time. 

914. Sombrero: A kind of broad brimmed hat. 

924. vSee hne635. 

953. Ozark Mts.: Low mountains of southern Missouri. 

956. Fates: The three goddesses who were supposed to determine 

the course of human life. 
961 . Olympus: A mountain of Ancient Greece, the abode of the gods. 
970. Ci-devant: Former; previous. 
978. In tropical regions there is little or no twilight. Contrast this 

line with 172 and 574-5. 



66 BVANGEIvINK. 

984. Natchitoches: A parish of N. W. La. 
988-9. Refer to the cold climate and stony soil of Nova Scotia. -^ 

991-2. A very strong hyperbole. \ 

1006. See page 285. 

1009. Creoles: People born in America or the West Indies, of Euro- 
pean ancestors. It is also applied to anyone born within the 
tropics. 
1019. See line 415. 

1033. Carthusian: A monk of the Carthusian order, which is the strict- 
est and most severe in its rules of all religious societies. 
One of its rules enforces almost perpetual silence. The monks 
talk together but once a week. 
1041. See line 352. 

1044. ''Upharsin:'' See Daniel V. "The handwriting on the wall." 
1054. See line 627. 

1057. Oracular: From oracle, an answer from a god among the 
heathen to an inquiry made. 
1060-1. Probable reference to Luke VII, 37-38. 

1063. See Luke XV, 11-32. 

1064. See Matthew XXV, 1-13. 

1075. Garrulous: Indulging in long prosy talk; loquacious. 
1082. Oregon: The Columbia river. 

Walleway: Probably the Walla Walla, which flows into the 

Columbia at Wallulu in Washington. 
Owyhee: River 350 miles long. Rises in N. Nevada and flows 
into the Snake River. 
1083-4. See map of northwestern states. 

1091. Aniorpha: False indigo. One variety is called the lead plant. 
The flowers are violet or purple in terminal spikes. 

1094. Prairie fires. 

1095. See line 381. The Arabs are supposed to be the descendants of 

Ishmael. Hence any wandering people. 

1097. The turkey-buzzard. 

1098. Implacable: Relentless; irreconcilable. 
1102. Taciturn: Silent; reserved. 

Anchorite: An anchorite is a hermit or recluse; used here as an 
adjective. 
1106. The geography here is rather vague. The region of the Columbia 
is so far from the Ozarks that it can hardly be called the same 
"land." 



KVANGELINK. 67 

1114. Fata Morga^ia: The Italian name applied to a phenomenon 
seen in the straits of Messina, and consisting of an appearance 
in the air over the sea of the objects upon the neighboring 
coasts. In the southwest of the United States, the mirage is 
often seen; lakes and streams and trees are seen by the travel- 
ler, but they exist only in his vision of the strata of air of 
dififerent densities. 

1119. Shawnee: A member of the tribe of that name. The Shawnees 

were of the Algonquin family. Some writers consider them as 
originally identical with the Kickapoos. They are first men- 
tioned in history as being on the banks of the Fox river in 
Wisconsin, in 1648. They engaged in war with the Iroquois and 
most of them were driven southward to the Cumberland river, 
whence they dispersed, some going to Florida, others to North 
Carolina, and several bands to Pennsylvania. About 1795 a 
portion of this tribe settled in Missouri under the protection of 
the Spanish authorities. Shawnees were engaged in the con- 
spiracy of Pontiac. They fought against Harmer, St. Clair and 
Wayne. They were at Tippecanoe and the battle of the 
Thames. 

1120. Camanches: Spelled also Covnanches. A warlike tribe of no- 

madic savages who roamed over a part of New Mexico and in 
the valley of the Rio Grande. Their principal occupations 
were robbery and war. They fought on horseback. They 
were probably of the same stock as the Shoshones or Snake 
Indians. 
Venison: Flesh of the deer. 

The tales remind us of the stories in "Hiawatha." 
The Jesuit missionaries were called the "Black Robes," from 
their long cloaks or habits. 
1182. Susurrus: Whisper. 

1211. Cloisters: A monastic establishment; a covered arcade forming 
part of a monastic establishment. 
Mendicant: Begging; poor. 
il7-21. Compass flower: Our common resin weed. The edges of the 

broad lower leaves always stand to the north and south. 
1226. Asphodel: A perennial plant of the genus Asphodelus, cultivat- 
ed for the beauty of its flowers. Called also "king's spear." 
Nepenthe: A drug used by the ancients to relieve pain; sup- 
posed to have been opium or hashish. 



68 EvangkIvIn:^. 

1129. Wold: A plain; a country without woods. 

1233. See map of Michigan. 

1234. The Great Lakes. 

1241. Moravian: The Moravian church is the church of the United 

Brethren. In the 15th and 16th centuries Moravia was one of 
its principal seats. It originated in Moravia and Bohemia, 
about 1457. They were established in this country and early 
sent their missionaries to and settled in the Great West. 
Tents of Grace: Gnadenhutten. 

1 242 . Armies of the Re vol ution . 

1244. Notice the repeated use of the vf or d phantom. 

1253. Origin of the word Pennsylvania. Sylvan, or forest land of 
Penn. 

1256. The principal streets of Philadelphia, running east and west are 
named for the trees of the forest; as, Oak, Elm, Chestnut, 'etc. 

\2S1. Dryads: Nymphs of the woods. Female deities who presided 
over the woods. 

1261. See lines 273-4. 

1264. The Quakers make much use of the ancient or solemn form in 
their speech. 

1282. Abnegation: Denial; renunciation. 

1292. In the early days watchmen patrolled the city at night and called 
the hours. At midnight his call would be "Twelve o'clock 
and all's well." When, during the Revolution, a courier rode 
mto Philadelphia with a certain important message, the watch- 
men on their rounds shouted ''Twelve o'clock, and Cornwallis 
is taken." 

1296. From the settlement of Germantown, then some distance out- 
side the city. 

1298. Philadelphia was visited by the terrible pestilence of yellow fever 

in 1 (yO, 

1308. The old Friend's almshouse which stood on Walnut street has 
been pointed out as the scene of Evangeline's ministering and 
of her meeting with Gabriel. 
1314-16. See line 106. 
1318. The New Jerusalem as described in Revelations. 
1328. The old Swedes church at Wicaco was begun in 1698. Wilson 
the ornithologist is buried in its churchyard. 
1355-6. See Exodus XII, 3-14. 
1390-1. See Introductory and Chapter VI. 
1392-7. See Chapter IV. 

The poem of Evangeline was published in 1847. 



E)VANGEIyIN^. 



PRONOUNCING VOCABULARY 

OF PROPER NAMES AND FOREIGN WORDS IN 
EVANGELINE. 



The diacritical marks given below are those found in the latest edition of Web- 
ster's International Dictionary. 



EXPLANATION OF MARKS. 

A Dash (") above the vowel denotes the long sound. 
A Curve (^) above the vowel denotes the short sound. 

A Circumflex Accent {^) above the vowels a or u denotes the sound of a in cSre, 
or of u in tQrn ; above the vowel o it denotes the sound of o in 8rb. 
A Dot (■) above tlie vowel a denotes the sound of a in past. 
A Double Dot (") above the vowel a denotes the sound of a in star. 
A Double Dot (..) below the vowel u denotes the sound of u in true. 
A Wave C) above the vowel e denotes the sound of e in her. 

8 sounds like z. 
q sounds like s. 
g sounds like j. 
a, e, 6 are similar in sound to a, e, o, but are not pronounced so lonff. 

Note that the pronunciation of French words can be given only approximately 
by means of signs and English equivalents. A living teacher is requisite to enable 
one to read and speak the language with elegance. 



Abb^ Guillaume Thomas Francis Raynal 

(Sb-bli' ge-yom', etc.). 
Acadie (a-ka-de')- 
Acca'dia. 
Ada'yes. 
Aelian (e'lT-5n). 

Aix-la-Chapelle (aks-la-sha-pSl'). 
Amorphas (a-mor'faz). 
Angelus Domini (an'je-liis d5m'l-nl). 
Arca'dia. 

asphodel (Ss'fo-dSl). 
Atchafalaya (5ch-a-fa-lT'a). 
Attakapas (Xt-tuk'a-paw). 
Bacchantes (bSk-kSn'tez). 
Bacchus (bSk'us). 



Beau Sejour (bo sa-zhoor'). 

BSnedig'Tte. 

Ben'edTct Bellefontaine'. 

Blom'Td5n. 

Briareus (brl'a-rus). 

Bruges (bri}zh). 

Cadie'. 

Caman'che§. 

Canard'. 

Cape Bret'on. 

Cel'tTc. 

Charente Inferieure (shSr-anhf Soh-fa- 

re-er'). 
Charnisay (shar-nT-za'). 
Chartreux (shar-tre'). 



EVANGELINE. 



ci-devant (se-de-vanhO' 

CotSlle'. 

coureurs-des-bois (koo'rer-da-bwa), 

Contes Populaires (konht p5p-u-lar0. 

couvre-feu (koo'vr-fe). 

Dante's Divina Commedia (dT-ve'na 

com-ma'dT-a). 
Ducaiiroi (du-ko-rwa'). 
Evaii'gelTiie. 
Fa'ta Morga'nS.. 
Father Felician (fe-lTsh'T-an). 
Fontaine-qui-bout (f6iili'taii-ke-boo). 
Gabriel Lajeunesse (la-zhe-ues'). 
Gaspereau (gas-pe-ro'). 
Gayarre (gi-a-ra'), 
Gnadenhutten (gna-dSn-luit'Cn). 
Grand-Pr6 (granh-pra'). 
Herod'otus. 

Horae Hellenicae (lio're h51-len'T-se). 
Isaac de Razilli (de ra-ze-ye'). 
Kavanagh (kSv'a-na). 
La Cle du Caveau (la kla du ka-vo'), 
La Gazza Ladra (la gat'za la'dra). 
La Have. 
Lii Salle, 
Le Carillon de Dunkerque (le kSr-e- 

yonh' de dun-kerk'). 
L6tiche (la-tesh'). 
Lilinau (le'lT-no). 
Louisburg (loo'T-bQrg). 
Loup-garou (loo-gar-oo'). 
maJtre de chapelle (ma'tr de sha-p51'). 
Melita (mg-le'ta). 
Minas Basin (me'aas basia). 
Mowis (mo'wes). 



Natchitoches (nSck'e-tSsb). 

nepSn'the. 

Opelousas (op-S-loo'sas). 

Outre-Mer (ootr-mSr'). 

Owy'hee. 

Passaiiiaqu5d'dy. 

Pierre Capelle <pe-Sr' ka-pSlO. 

PIsnfquTd. 

Plaquemine, Bayou of (pl5k-men', bi'oo). 

Pluquet (plu-ka')- 

Pointe Coupee (pvvanht koo-pa')» 

PQitou (pwa-too'). 

Ren6 Leblanc (re-na' le-blaabkO* 

Rochelle (ro-shgll'). 

Rossini (ros-se'iie). 

St. Maur (sanh mor'). 

Saintonge (sa»ih-t8nhzh'). 

Sam's6n Agonls'tes. 

seraglio (be-r51'yo). 

Siena (se-a'na). 

Silphium laciniatum (sTl'fT-um la-sTn-T* 

a'ttiin). 
Straits of Messina (mes-se'ni). 
Teche (tash). 
Tous lea Bourgeois de Chartres (too 13 

boor-zhvva' de shartr). 
Upharsin (u-far'sTn). 
Utrecht (ii'trekt). 
Vendue (vanh-da'). 
voyageur (vwa-ya-zher'). 
Wachita (wosh'e-taw). 
Walleway (w511'e-v\'a). 
were-wolf. 
Wicaco (vve-ka'ko). 
Xerxes (zerks'ez). 



EVANGEUNE. 69 



EVANGELINE. 



PRELUDE. 



This is the forest primeval. The murmuring 
pines and the hemlocks, 

Bearded with moss, and in garments green, indis- 
tinct in the twilight, 

Stand like Druids of eld, with voices sad and pro- 
phetic, 

Stand like harpers hoar, with beards that rest on 
their bosoms. 

Loud from its rocky caverns, the deep-voiced neigh- 
boring ocean ^ 

Speaks, and in accents disconsolate answers the wail 
of the forest. 

This is the forest primeval; but where are the 
hearts that beneath it 

Leaped like the roe, when he hears in the woodland 
the voice of the huntsman? 

Where is the thatch-roofed village, the home of Aca- 
dian farmers — 

Men whose lives glided on like rivers that water the 
woodlands, ^^ 

Darkened by shadows of earth, but reflecting an image 
of heaven? 



70 EVANG^tlN^. 

Waste are those pleasant farms, and the farmers for- 
ever departed! 

Scattered like dust and leaves, when the mighty 
blasts of October 

Seize them, and whirl them aloft, and sprinkle them 
far o'er the ocean. 

Naught but tradition remains of the beautiful village 
of Grand-Pre. ^^ 

Ye who believe in affection that hopes, and endures, 
and is patient. 

Ye who believe in the beauty and strength of wo- 
man's devotion, 

List to the mournful tradition still sung by the pines 
of the forest; 

List to a Tale of Love in Acadie, home of the happy. 

PART THE FIRST. 
I. 

In the Acadian land, on the shores of the Basin of 

Minas, 

Distant, secluded, still, the little village of Grand- 
Pre 
Lay in the fruitful valley. Vast meadows stretched 

to the eastward. 
Giving the village its name and pasture to flocks 

without number. 
Dikes, that the hands of the farmers had raised with 

labor incessant. 
Shut out the turbulent tides; but at stated seasons 

the flood-gates 25 

Opened and welcomed the sea to wander at will o'er 

the meadows. 



, KVANGE^LINK. . 71 

Vest and soutH there were fields of flax, and orchards 

and cornfields 
Spreading afar and unfenced o'er the plain; and away 

to the northward 
Jlomidon rose, and the forests old, and aloft on the 

mountains 
Dea-fogs pitched their tents, and mists from the mighty 

Atlantic 
ooked on the happy valley, but ne'er from their sta- 
tion descended. 
There, in the midst of its farms, reposed the Acadian 

village. 
Strongly built were the houses, with frames of oak 

and of hemlock. 
Such as the peasants of Normandy built in the reign 

of the Henries. 
Thatched were the roofs, with dormer-windows; and 

gables projecting 
Over the basement below protected and shaded the 

doorway. 
There in the tranquil evenings of summer, when 

brightly the sunset 
Lighted the village street, and gilded the vanes on 

the chimneys, 
Matrons and maidens sat in snow-white caps and in 

kirtles 
Scarlet and blue and green, with distaffs spinning 

the golden 
Flax for the gossiping looms, whose noisy shuttles 

within doors 
Mingled their sound with the whir of the wheels and 

the songs of the maidens. 



\ 



72 HVANGKI.INE. 

Solemnly down the street came the parish priest, anl 
the children ' ^ 

Paused in their play to kiss the hand he extended 
bless them. 






Reverend walked he among them ; and up rose mi 

trons and maidens, i 

Hailing his slow approach with words of aiFectionatc 

welcome. 
Then came the laborers home from the field, and se 

renely the sun sank 
Down to his rest, and twilight prevailed. Anon from 

the belfry 
Softly the Angelus sounded, and over the roofs oi 

the village 
Columns of pale blue smoke, like clouds of incense 

ascending, 5c 

Rose from a hundred hearths, the homes of peace and 

contentment. 

Thus dwelt together in love these simple Acadian] 

farmers, — 
Dwelt in the love of God and of man. Alike were: 

they free from 
Fear, that reigns with the tyrant, and envy, the vice^ 

of republics. 
Neither^ locks had they to their doors, nor bars to? 

their windows ; 55^ 

But their dwellings were open as day and the hearts 

of the owners; 
There the richest was poor, and the poorest lived in 

abundance. 

Somewhat apart from the village, and nearer the 
Basin of Minas, 



KVANGEUNE. 73 

Benedict Bellefontaine, the wealthiest farmer of 

Grand-Pre, 
)welt on his goodly acres ; and with him, directing 
! his household, 
Gentle Evangeline lived, his child, and the pride of 

the village, 
otal worth and stately in form was the man of seventy 

winters; . 

Hearty and hale was he, an oak that is covered with 

snow-flakes ; 
White as the snow were his locks, and his cheeks as 

brown as the oak-leaves. 
Fair was she to behold, that maiden of seventeen 

summers; 
Black were her eyes as the berry that grows on the 

thorn by the wayside. 
Black, yet how softly they gleamed beneath the brown 

shade of her tresses I 
Sweet was her breath as the breath of kine that feed 

in the meadows. 
When in the harvest heat she bore to the reapers at 

noontide 
Flagons of home-brewed ale, ah! fair m sooth was 

the maiden. 1.1.1.1. n 

Fairer was she, when on Sunday morn, while the beli 

from its turret 
Sprinkled with holy sounds the air, as the priest with 

his hyssop 
Sprinkles the congregation, and scatters bessmgs 

upon them 1 4. r 

Down the long street she passed, with her chaplet ot 
beads and her missal. 



74 EVANGELINE. 

Wearing her Norman cap and her kirtle of blue, and 

the ear-rings ^' 

Brought in the olden time from France, and since, as 

an heirloom, 
Handed down from mother to child, through long 

generations. 
But a celestial brightness — a more ethereal beauty — 
Shone on her face and encircled her form, when, after 

confession. 
Homeward serenely she walked with God's benedic- 
tion upon her. ^ 
When she had passed, it seemed like the ceasing of 

exquisite music. 
Firmly builded with rafters of oak, the house of^'| 

the farmer 
Stood on the side of a hill commanding the sea; and 

a shady 
Sycamore grew by the door, with a woodbine wreath- 
ing around it. 
Rudely carved was the porch, with seats beneath; and 

a footpath 
Led through an orchard wide, and disappeared in the 

meadow. 
Under the sycamore-tree were hives overhung by a 

penthouse. 
Such as the traveler sees in regions remote by the 

roadside. 
Built o'er a box for the poor, or the blessed image of 

Mary. 
Farther down, on the slope of the hill, was the well 

with its moss-grown ^^ 

Bucket, fastened with iron, and near it a trough for 

the horses. 



KVANGELINE. 75 

Shielding the house from storms, on the north, were 
the barns and the farmyard; 

rhere stood the broad-wheeled wains and the antique 
plows and harrows; 

There were the folds for the sheep, and there in his 
feathered seraglio, 

krutted the lordly turkey, and crowed the cock, with 
the selfsame ^^ 

/oice that in ages of old had startled the penitent 
Peter. 

Bursting with hay were the barns, themselves a vil- 
lage. In each one 

.^ar o'er the gable projected a roof of thatch; and a 
staircase, 

Jnder the sheltering eaves, led up to the odorous 
cornloft. 

rhere too the dove-cot stood, with its meek and inno- 
cent inmates ^^^ 

Vlurmuring ever of love; while above in the vari- 
ant breezes 

>Jumberless noisy weathercocks rattled and sang of 

^ mutation. 

Thus, at peace with God and the world, the 

farmer of Grand-Pre 
Lived on his sunny farm, and Evangeline governed 

his household. 
Many a youth, as he knelt in the church and opened 

his missal, ^^^ 

Fixed his eyes upon her as the saint of his deepest 

devotion; 
Happy was he who might touch her hand or the hem 

of her garment! 



76 EVANGELINE. 

Many a suitor came to her door, by the darkness be-| 

friended, 
And, as he knocked and waited to hear the sound of] 

her footsteps. 
Knew not which beat the louder, his heart or thej 

knocker of iron; ^^° 

Or, at the joyous feast of the Patron Saint of the vil- 
lage, 
Bolder grew, and pressed her hand in the dance as he: 

whispered 
Hurried words of love, that seemed a part of the'ij 

music. 
But among all who came young Gabriel only was;; 

welcome; 
Gabriel Lajeunesse, the son of Basil the black- 
smith, ^^^ 
Who was a mighty man in the village, and honored 

of all men ; 
For since the birth of time, throughout all ages and 

nations. 
Has the craft of the smith been held in repute by the 

people. 
Basil was Benedict's friend. Their children from 

earliest childhood 
Grew up together as brother and sister; and Father 

Felician, i^o 

Priest and pedagogue both in the village, had taught 

them their letters 
Out of the selfsame book, with the hymns of the 

church and the plain-song. 
But when the hymn was sung, and the daily lesson 

completed, 



KVANGELINS. 77 

wiftly they hurried away to the forge of Basil the 
blacksmith. 

'here at the door they stood, with wondering eyes to 
behold him ^^'^ 

'ake in his leathern lap the hoof of the horse as a 

plaything, 
Jailing the shoe in its place ; while near him the tire 

of the cart-wheel 
yay like a fiery snake, coiled round in a circle of 

cinders. 
)ft on autumnal eves, when without in the gathering 

darkness 
Bursting with light seemed the smithy, through 

every cranny and crevice, ^^^ 

A/'arm by the forge within they watched the laboring 

bellows, 
\.nd as its panting ceased, and the sparks expired in 

the ashes, 
Vlerrily laughed, and said they were nuns going into 

the chapel. 
3ft on sledges in winter, as swift as the swoop of the 

eagle, 
Down the hillside bounding, they glided away o'er the 

meadow. ^^ 

Dft in the barns they climbed to the populous nests 

on the rafters, 
Seeking with eager eyes that wondrous stone, which 

the swallow 
Brings from the shore of the sea to restore the sight 

of its fledglings ; 
[yucky was he who found that stone in the nest of the 

swallow ! 



78 KVANGELINK. 



I 



Thus passed a few swift years, and they no longeri 

were children. ^^'^/ 

He was a valiant youth, and his face, like the face o^ 

the morning, 
Gladdened the earth with its light, and ripened 

thought into action. 
She was a woman now, with the heart and hopes of a 

woman. 
"Sunshine of St. Eulalie" was she called; for that 

was the sunshine 
Which, as the farmers believed, would load their 

orchards with apples; ^^^ 

She too would bring to her husband's house delight 

and abundance. 
Filling it full of love and ruddy faces of children. 

SECOND READING. 

Now had the season returned, when the nights 

grow colder and longer, 
And the retreating sun the sign of the Scorpion en- 
ters. 
Birds of passage sailed through the leaden air, from 

the ice-bound, ^^° 

Desolate northern bays to the shores of tropical 

islands. 
Harvests were gathered in; and wild with the winds 

of September 
Wrestled the trees of the forest, as Jacob of old with 

the angel. 
All the signs foretold a winter long and inclement. 
Bees, with prophetic instinct of want, had hoarded 

their honey ^^^ 



EVANGELINi:. 79 

Till the hives overflowed; and the Indian hunters as- 
serted 
Cold would the winter be, for thick was the fur of the 

foxes. 
Such was the advent of autumn. Then followed 

that beautiful season, 
Called by the pious Acadian peasants the Summer of 

All-Saints! 
Filled was the air with a dreamy and magical light; 

and the landscape ^^^ 

Lay as if new-created in all the freshness of childhood. 
Peace seemed to reign upon earth, and the restless 

heart of the ocean 
Was for a moment consoled. All sounds were in 

harmony blended. 
Voices of children at play, the crowing of cocks in 

the farm-yards. 
Whir of wings in the drowsy air, and the cooing of 

pigeons ^^^ 

All were subdued and low as the murmurs of love, 

and the great sun 
Looked with the eye of love through the golden va- 
pors around him; 
While arrayed in its robes of russet and scarlet and 

yellow. 
Bright with the sheen of the dew, each glittering tree 

of the forest 
Flashed like the plane-tree the Persian adorned with 

mantles and jewels. ^'^ 

Now recommenced the reign of rest and affection 
and stillness. 



80 SVANGEI.INS. 

Day with its burden and heat had departed, and twi- 
light descending 
Brought back the evening star to the sky, and the 

herds to the homestead. , 

Pawing the ground they came, and resting their 

necks on each other, 
And with their nostrils distended inhaling the fresh- 
ness of evening. ^'^ 
Foremost, bearing the bell, Evangeline's beautiful 

heifer. 
Proud of her snow-white hide, and the ribbon that 

waved from her collar. 
Quietly paced and slow, as if conscious of human 

affection. 
Then came the shepherd back with his bleating flocks 

from the seaside, 
Where was their favorite pasture. Behind them 

followed the watch-dog, ^^^ 

Patient, full of importance, and grand in the pride of 

his instinct, 
Walking from side to side with a lordly air, and 

superbly 
Waving his bushy tail, and urging forward the 

stragglers ; 
Regent of flocks was he when the shepherd slept; 

their protector, 
When from the forest at night, through the starry 

silence, the wolves howled. ^^^ 

Late, with the rising moon, returned the wains from 

the marshes, 
Laden with briny hay, that filled the air with its 

odor. 



EVANGELINE. 81 

Cheerily neighed the steeds, with dew on their manes 
and their fetlocks, 

While aloft on their shoulders the wooden and pon- 
derous saddles. 

Painted with brilliant dyes, and adorned with tassels 
of crimson, ^^^ 

Nodded in bright array, like hollyhocks heavy with 
blossoms. 

Patiently stood the cows meanwhile, and yielded their 
udders 

Unto the milkmaid's hand; whilst loud and in regular 
cadence 

Into the sounding pails the foaming streamlets de- 
scended. 

Lowing of cattle and peals of laughter were heard in 
the farm-yard, ^^ 

Echoed back by the barns. Anon they sank into 
stillness; 

Heavily closed, with a jarring sound, the valves of 
the barn-doors, 

Rattled the wooden bars, and all for a season was 
silent. 

In-doors, warm by the wide-mouthed fireplace, idly 
the farmer 

Sat in his elbow-chair, and watched how the flames 
and the smoke- wreaths ^^ 

Struggled together like foes in a burning city. Be- 
hind him. 

Nodding and mocking along the wall with gestures 
fantastic, 

Darted his own huge shadow, and vanished away into 
darkness. 



82 EVANGELINB. 

Faces, clumsily carved in oak, on the back of his 

arm-chair, 
Laughed in the flickering light, and the pewter plates 

on the dresser ^^^ 

Caught and reflected the flame, as shields of armies 

the sunshine. 
Fragments of song the old man sang, and carols of 

Christmas, 
Such as at home, in the olden time, his fathers before 

him 
Sang in their Norman orchards and bright Burgun- 

dian vineyards. 
Close at her father's side was the gentle Evangeline 

seated, ^'' 

Spinning flax for the loom that stood in the corner 

behind her. 
Silent awhile were its treadles, at rest was its diligent 

shuttle, 
While the monotonous drone of the wheel, like the 

drone of a bagpipe, 
Followed the old man*s song, and united the fragments 

together. 
As in a church, when the chant of the choir at inter- 
vals ceases, ^^^ 
Footfalls are heard in the aisles, or words of priest at 

the altar, 
So, in each pause of the song, with measured motion 

the clock clicked. 

Thus as they sat, there were footsteps heard, and, 
suddenly lifted, 
Sounded the wooden latch, and the door swung back 
on its hinges. 



EVANGKLINK. 83 

Benedict knew by the hob-nailed shoes it was Basil 

the blacksmith, 
\nd by her beating heart Evangeline knew who was 

with him. 
Welcome!" the farmer exclaimed, as their footsteps 

paused on the threshold, 
[•'Welcome, Basil, my friend! Come, take thy place 

on the settle 
Close by the chimney-side, which is always empty 

without thee; 
Take from the shelf overhead thy pipe and the box of 

tobacco; 
Never so much thyself art thou as when, through the 

curling 
Smoke of the pipe or the forge, thy friendly and jovial 

face gleams 
Round and red as the harvest moon through the mist 

of the marshes.** 
Then, with a smile of content, thus answered Basil the 

blacksmith, 
Taking with easy air the accustomed seat by the fire- 
side: — 
"Benedict Bellefontaine, thou hast ever thy jest and' 

thy ballad! 
Ever in cheerfullest mood art thou, when others are 

filled with 
Gloomy forebodings of ill, and see only rum before 

them. -J 

Happy art thou, as if every day thou hadst picked up 

a horseshoe." 
Pausing a moment, to take the pipe that Evangeline 

brought him, 



84 «VANGKI,INE. 






And with a coal from the embers had lighted, he 

slowly continued: — 
^^Four days now are passed since the English ships 

at their anchors 
Ride in the Gasperean's mouth, with their cannot 

pointed against us. 
What their design may be is unknown; but all are 

commanded 
On the morrow to meet in the church, where his 

Majesty's mandate 2# 

Will be proclaimed as law in the land. AlasI in the 

mean time 
Many surmises of evil alarm the hearts of the people.' 
Then made answer the farmer: — ''Perhaps som( 

friendlier purpose 
Brings these ships to our shores. Perhaps the har 

vests in England 
By untimely rains or untimelier heat have been 

blighted, 245 

And from our bursting barns they would feed theitj 

cattle and children." 
"Not so thinketh the folk in the village," said warmly 

the blacksmith. 
Shaking his head as in doubt; then, heaving a sigh, 

he continued: — 
"Louisburg is not forgotten, nor Beau Seiour, nor 

Port Royal. 
Many already have fled to the forest, and lurk on its 

outskirts, 250 

Waiting with anxious hearts the dubious fate of to- 
morrow. 
Arms have been taken from us, and warlike weapons 

of all kinds; 



EVANGKUNE. 85 

Nothing is left but the blacksmith's sledge and the 

scythe of the mower." 
Then with a pleasant smile made answer the jovial 

farmer: — 
^Safer are we unarmed, in the midst of our flocks 

and our cornfields, ^^^ 

Safer within these peaceful dikes besieged by the ocean, 
Than our fathers in forts, besieged by the enemy's 

cannon. 
Fear no evil, my friend, and to-night may no shadow 

of sorrow 
Fall on this house and hearth; for this is the night 

of the contract. 
: Built are the house and the barn. The merry lads 

of the village ^ "^ 

■Strongly have built them and well; and, breaking 

the glebe round about them. 
Filled the barn with hay, and the house with food 

for a twelvemonth. 
Rene Leblanc will be here anon, with his papers and 

inkhorn. 
Shall we not then be glad, and rejoice in the joy of 

our children ?" 
As apart by the window she stood, with her hand in 

her lover's, 
Blushing Evangeline heard the words that her father 

had spoken. 
And, as they died on his lips, the worthy notary en- 
tered. 

THIRD READING. 

Bent like a laboring oar, that toils in the surf of 
the ocean, 



S6 ^VANGKIvIN^. m 

Bent, but not broken, by age was the form of tbe no- | 
tary public ; j 

Shocks of yellow hair, like the silken floss of the 
maize, hung ^^^ 

Over his shoulders ; his forehead was high ; and 
glasses with horn bows 

Sat astride on his nose, with a look of wisdom su- 
pernal. 

Father of twenty children was he, and more than a 
hundred 

Children's children rode on his knee, and heard his 
great watch tick. 

Four long years in the times of the war had he lan- 
guished a captive, ^^^ 

Suffering much in an old French fort as the friend of 
the English. 

Now, though warier grown, without all guile or sus- 
picion. 

Ripe in wisdom was he, but patient, and simple, and 
childlike. 

He was beloved by all, and most of all by the chil- 
dren ; 

For he told them tales of the Loup-garou in the 
forest, 280 

And of the goblin that came in the night to water 
the horses. 

And of the white Letiche, the ghost of a child' who 
unchristened 

Died, and was doomed to haunt unseen the chambers 

of children; 
And how on Christmas eve the oxen talked in the 

stable. 



Lnd how the fever was cured by a spider shut up in 
a nutshell, 

^nd of the marvelous powers of four-leaved clover 
and horseshoes, 

Nith whatsoever else was writ in the lore of the vil- 
lage. 

Then up rose from his seat by the fireside Basil the 
blacksmith, 

S:nocked from his pipe the ashes, and slowly extend- 
ing his right hand, 

^Father Leblanc,'' he exclaimed, ''thou hast heard 
the talk in the village, 

A.nd, perchance, canst tell us some news of these 
ships and their errand." 

Then with modest demeanor made answer the notary 
public, — 

'* Gossip enough have I heard, in sooth, yet am never 
the wiser ; 

And what their errand may be I know no better than 

others. . 

Yet am I not of those who imagine some evil mten- 

tion 
Brings them here, for we are at peace ; and why then 

molest us?" 

"God's name!" shouted the hasty and somewhat 
irascible blacksmith ; . 

"Must we in all things look for the how, and the 
why, and the wherefore ? 

Daily injustice is done, and might is the right ot the 
strongest ! " . 

But, without heeding his warmth, continued the no- 
tary public, — . 

"Man is unjust, but God is just; and finally ,iustice 



88 KVANGEI.INB. 






Triumplis ; and well I remember a story, that ofteu 

consoled me, 
When as a captive I lay in the old French fort al 

Port Royal." 
This was the old man^s favorite tale, and he loved tc 

repeat it 
When his neighbors complained that any injustice' 

was done them. ^ 

"Once in an ancient city, whose name I no longer 

remember. 
Raised aloft on a column, a brazen statute of Justicd 
Stood in the public square, upholding the scales in! 

its left hand. 
And in its right a sword, as an emblem that justice: 

presided 
Over the laws of the land, and the hearts and homes- 

of the people. ^^^1 

Even the birds had built their nests in the scales of ( 

the balance. 
Having no fear of the sword that flashed in the sun-- 

shine above them. 
But in the course of time the laws of the land were 

corrupted ; j 

Might took the place of right, and the weak were 

oppressed, and the mighty j 

Ruled with an iron rod. Then it chanced in a noble- 
man's palace ^^^i 
That a necklace of pearls was lost, and ere long a 

suspicion 
Fell on an orphan girl who lived as maid in the 

household. 

She, after form of trial condemned to die on the scaf- 
fold. 



EVANGEI.INK. 89 

^tiently met her doom at the foot of the statue of 
Justice. . . 

|S to her Father in heaven her innocent spirit as- 
cended, 

o ! o'er the city a tempest rose ; and the bolts of the 
thunder 

mote the statue of bronze, and hurled m wrath Irom 

' its left hand 

iQwn on the pavement below the clattering scales ot 

the balance, 
.nd in the hollow thereof was found the nest ot a 

magpie, 
ato whose clay-built walls the necklace of pearls was 

inwoven, 
ilenced, but not convinced, when the story was 

ended, the blacksmith r i ^i, 

tood like a man who fain would speak, but tindeth 

no language; 
l11 his thoughts were congealed into lines on His 

face, as the vapors 
freeze in fantastic shapes on the window-panes m 

the winter. 

Then Evangeline lighted the brazen lamp on the 

mied, till it overflowed, the pewter tankard with 
home-brewed . . 

Nlut-brown ale, that was famed for its strength m the 
village of Grand-Pre ; 

Awhile from his pocket the notary drew his papers 
and inkhorn, , 

A^rote with a steady hand the date and the age of the 

parties, 



90 KyANGKI.INK. 

Naming the dower of the bride in flocks of sheep an 

in cattle. 
Orderly all things proceeded, and duly and well wer 

completed, 
And the great seal of the law was set like a sun on 

the margin. 
Then from his leathern pouch the farmer threw on 

the table 
Three times the old man's fee in solid pieces of silver; 
And the notary rising, and blessing the bride and: 

bridegroom, ^^® 

Lifted aloft the tankard of ale and drank to their 

welfare. 
Wiping the foam from his lip, he solemnly bowed and 

departed, 
While in silence the others sat and mused by the 

fireside. 
Till Evangeline brought the draught-board out of its 

corner. 
Soon was the game begun. In friendly contention 

the old men ^"^^ 

Laughed at each lucky hit, or unsuccessful manoeuvre, 
Laughed when a man was crowned, or a breach was ; 

made in the king-row. 
Meanwhile, apart, in the twilight glooip of a window's 

embrasure, 
Sat the lovers and whispered together, beholding the 

moon rise 
Over the pallid sea and the silvery mist of the mead- 
ows. ^^^*'; 

Silently, one by one, in the infinite meadows of 
heaven, 



EVANGELINE. 91 

piossomed the lovely stars, the forget-me-nots of the 
angels. 

Thns was the evening passed. Anon the bell from 
, the belfry 
Rang ont the honr of nine, the village curfew, and 
I straightway , . 

Rose the guests and departed; and silence reigned in 

the household. 
Many a farewell word and sweet good-night on the 

door-step 
Lingered long in Evangeline's heart, and filled it with 

gladness. 

Carefully then were covered the embers that glowed 
on the hearth-stone, 

And on the oaken stairs resounded the tread of the 
farmer. 

Scon with a soundless step the foot of Evangeline fol- 
lowed. ' V, A ^ 

Up the staircase moved a luminous space m the dark- 
ness, . - - 

Lighted less by the lamp than the shmmg face ot the 

maiden. 
Silent she passed through the hall, and entered the 

door of her chamber. 
Simple that chamber was, with its curtains of white, 

and its clothes-press 
Ample and high, on whose spacious shelves were 

carefully folded , r ^ i • 

Linen and woolen stuffs, by the hand of Evangeline 

woven 111- 4. t. 

This was the precious dower she would bring to Her 

husband in marriage, 



92 EVANGSIvIN^. 

Better than flocks and herds, being proofs of her skill 

as a housewife. 
Soon she extinguished her lamp, for the mellow and 

radiant moonlight 1 

Streamed through the windows, and lighted the room, 

till the heart of the maiden ^^^ . 

Swelled and obeyed its power, like the tremulous tides j 

of the ocean. 
Ah! she was fair, exceeding fair to behold, as she 

stood with 
Naked snow-white feet on the gleaming floor of her 

chamber! 
Little she dreamed that below, among the trees of the 

orchard, 
Waited her lover and watched for the gleam of her 

lamp and her shadow. ^^^ 

Yet were her thoughts of him, and at times a feeling 

of sadness 
Passed o'er her soul, as the sailing shade of clouds in 

the moonlight 
Flitted across the floor and darkened the room for a 

moment. 
And, as she gazed from the window, she saw serene!y 

the moon pass 
Forth from the folds of a cloud, and one star follow 

her footsteps, ^^^ 

As out of Abraham's tent young Ishmael wandered 

with Hagar. 

FOURTH READING. 

Pleasantly rose next morn the sun on the village 
of Grand-Pre. 



EVANGKLINK. 93 

Pleasantly gleamed in the soft, sweet air the Basin of 

Minas, 
Where the ships, with their wavering shadows, were 

riding at anchor. 

Life had been long astir in the village, and clamorous 
labor '^^'^ 

Knocked with its hundred hands at the golden gates 
of the morning. 

Now from the country around, from the farms and 
neighboring hamlets. 

Came in their holiday dresses the blithe Acadian 
peasants. 

Many a glad good- morrow and jocund laugh from the 
young folk 

Made the bright air brighter, as up from the numer- 
ous meadows, ^^ 

Where no path could be seen but the track of wheels 
in the greensward, 

Group after group appeared, and joined, or passed on 
. the highway. 

Long ere noon, in the village all sounds of labor were 
silenced. 

Thronged were the streets with people; and noisy 
groups at the house-doors 

Sat in the cheerful sun, and rejoiced and gossiped to- 
gether. 

Every house was an inn, where all were welcomed 
and feasted; 

For with this simple people, who lived like brothers 
together. 

All things were held in common, and what one had 
was another's. 



94 EVANGEI.INE 






Yet under Benedict's" roof hospitality seemed more 
abundant: 

For Evangeline stood among the guests of her 
father. ^oo 

Bright was her face with smiles, and words of wel- 
come and gladness 

Fell from her beautiful lips, and blessed the cup as 
she gave it. | 

a 

Under the open sky, in the odorous air of th^ 
orchard, 

Stript of its golden fruit, v/as spread the feast of be 
trothal. 

There in the shade of the porch were the priest and 
the notary seated; 

There good Benedict sat, and sturdy Basil the black- 
smith. 

Not far withdrawn from these, by the cider press and 
the bee-hives, 

Michael the fiddler v/as placed, with the gayest of 
hearts and of waistcoats. 

Shadow and light from the leaves alternately played 
on his snow-white 

Hair, as it waved in the wind; and the jolly face of 
the fiddler 410 

downed like a living coal when the ashes are blown 
from the embers. 

Gaily the old man sang to the vibrant sound of his 

fiddle. 
Tons les Bourgeois de Chartres, and Le Carillon de 

Dunkerque^ 
And anon with his wooden shoes beat time to the music. 



EVANGKLINK. 95 

Merrily, merrily whirled the wheels of the dizzying 

dances '^^^ 

Under the orchard-trees and down the path to the 

meadows; 
Old folk and young together, and children mingled 

among them. 
Fairest of all maids was Evangeline, Benedict's 

daughter! 
Noblest of all the youths was Gabriel, son of the 

blacksmith! 

So passed the morning away. And lo! with a sum- 
mons sonorous ^^^ 

Sounded the bell from its tower, and over the mead- 
ows a drum beat. 

Thronged ere long was the church with men. With- 
out, in the churchyard, 

Waited the women. They stood by the graves, and 
hung on the headstones 

Garlands of autumn-leaves and evergreens fresh from 
the forest. 

Then came the guard from the ships, and marching 
proudly among them "^^^ 

Entered the sacred portal. With loud and dissonant 
clangor 

Echoed the sound of their brazen drums from ceiling 
and casement, — 

Echoed a moment only, and slowly the ponderous 
portal 

Closed, and in silence the crowd awaited the will of 
the soldiers. 

Then uprose their commander, and spake from the 
steps of the altar, ^^^ 



96 EVANGELINE. I 

Holding aloft in his hands, with the seals, the royal 

commission. 
"You are convened this day," he said, "by his Maj- 
esty's orders. 
Clement and kind has he been; but how you have 

answered his kindness 
Let your own hearts reply ! To my natural makej 

and my temper * 

Painful the task is I do, which to you I know must 

be grievous. ^^^ 

Yet must I bow and obey, and deliver the will of our 

monarch: 
Namely, that all your lands, and dwellings, and cattle 

of all kinds 
Forfeited be to the crown; and that you yourselves 

from this province 
Be transported to other lands. God grant you may 

dw^ell there 
Ever as faithful subjects, a happy and peaceable peo 

pie! ... '''' 

Prisoners now I declare you, for such is his Majesty's 

pleasure!" 
As, when the air is serene in the sultry solstice of 

summer, 
Suddenly gathers a storm, and the deadly sling of the 

hailstones 
Beats down the farmer's corn in the field, and shatters 

his windows. 
Hiding the sun, and strewing the ground with thatch 

from the house-roofs, ^^^ 

Bellowing fly the herds, and seek to break their en- 
closures: 



evangkline;. 97 

So on the hearts of the people descended the words of 

the speaker. 
Silent a moment they stood in speechless wonder, and 

then rose 
Louder and ever louder a wail of sorrow and anger, 
And, by one impulse moved, they madly rushed to 

the door-way. ^^'^ 

Vain was the hope of escape; and cries and fierce im- 
precations 
Rang through the house of prayer; and high o'er the 

heads of the others 
Rose, with his arms uplifted, the figure of Basil the 

blacksmith, 
As, on a stormy sea, a spar is tossed by the billows. 
Flushed was his face and distorted with passion; and 

wildly he shouted,— ^^^ 

"Down with the tyrants of England! we never have 

sworn them allegiance! 
Death to these foreign soldiers, who seize on our 

homes and our harvests!" 
More he fain would have said, but the merciless hand 

' of a soldier 
Smote him upon the mouth, and dragged him down 

to the pavement. 

In the midst of the strife and tumult of angry con- 
tention, 
Lo! the door of the chancel opened, and Father Felician 
Entered, with serious mien, and ascended the steps of 

the altar. 
Raising his reverend hand, with a gesture he awed 
into silence 



98 KVAngeIvINe:. 



I 



All that clamorous throng; and thus lie spake to his. 

people; 
Deep were his tones and solemn; in accents measured 

and mournful ^^"^ 

Spake he, as, after the tocsin's alarum, distinctly the 

clock strikes. . 

"What is this that ye do, my children? what madness | 

has seized you? • 
Forty years of my life have I labored among you, and 

taught you, 
Not in word alone, but in deed, to love one an- 
other! 
Is this the fruit of my toils, of my vigils and prayers 

and privations? ' ^^^ 

Have you so soon forgotten all lessons of love and 

forgiveness? 
This is the house of the Prince of Peace, and would 

you profane it 
Thus with violent deeds and hearts overflowing with 

hatred? 
Lo! where the crucified Christ from His cross is gaz- 
ing upon you ! 
See! in those sorrowful eyes what meekness and holy 

compassion! ^^^ 

Hark! how those lips still repeat the prayer, 'O 

Father, forgive them!' 
Let us repeat that prayer in the hour when the wicked 

assail us, 
Let us repeat it now, and say, 'O Father, forgive 

them!' " 
Few were his words of rebuke, but deep in the hearts 

of his people 



EVANGELINE. 99 

Sank they, and sobs of contrition succeeded the pas- 
sionate outbreak, "^^^ 

While they repeated his prayer and said, "O Father, 
forgive them!" 

Then came the evening service. The tapers gleamed 

from the altar; 
Fervent and deep was the voice of the priest, and the 

people responded. 
Not with their lips alone, but their hearts; and the 

Ave Maria 
Sang they, and fell on their knees, and their souls,_ 

with devotion translated. 
Rose on the ardor of prayer, like Elijah ascending 

to heaven. 

Meanwhile had spread in the village the tidings of 

ill, and on all sides 
Wandered, wailing, from house to house the women 

and children. 
Long at her father's door Evangeline stood, with her 

right hand 
Shielding her eyes from the level rays of the sun, 

that, descending. 
Lighted the village street with mysterious splendor, 

and roofed each 
Peasant's cottage with golden thatch, and emblazoned 

its windows. 
Long within had been spread the snow-white cloth on 

the table ; 
There stood the wheaten loaf, and the honey fragrant 

with wild flowers ; 



100 EVANGELINE. I 

There stood the tankard of ale, and the cheese fresh? 
brought from the dairy ; ^^^ 

And at the head of the board the great arm-chair of 
the farmer. 

Thus did Evangeline wait at her father's door, as 
the sunset 

Threw the long shadows of trees o'er the broad am- 
brosial meadows. 

Ah! on her spirit within a deeper shadow had 
fallen, 

And from the fields of her soul a fragrance celestial 
ascended, — ^ 

Charity, meekness, love, and hope, and forgiveness, 
and patience ! 

Then, all forgetful of self, she wandered into the 
village. 

Cheering with looks and words the mournful hearts 
of the women, 

As o'er the darkening fields with lingering steps they 
departed. 

Urged by their household cares, and the weary feet 
of their children. ^^ 

Down sank the great red sun, and in golden, glim- 
mering vapors 

Veiled the light of his face, like the Prophet descend- 
ing from Sinai. 

Sweetly over the village the bell of the Angelus 
sounded. 

Meanwhile, amid the gloom, by the church Evan- 
geline lingered. 
All was silent within; and in vain at the door and the 
windows ^^^ 



BVANGELINK. 101 

Stood she, and listened and looked, until, overcome 

by emotion 
"Gabriel!" cried slie aloud with tremulous voice, but 

no answer 
Came from the graves of the dead, nor the gloomier 

grave of the living. 
Slowly at length she returned to the tenantless house 

of her father. 
Smouldered the fire on the hearth, on the board was 

the supper untasted. ^^^ 

Empty and drear was each room, and haunted with 

phantoms of terror. 
Sadly echoed her step on the stair and the floor of her 

chamber. 
In the dead of the night she heard the disconsolate 

rain fall 
Loud on the withered leaves of the sycamore-tree by 

the window. 
Keenly the lightning flashed; and the voice of the 

echoing thunder ^^^ 

Told her that God was in heaven and governed the 

world He created! 
Then she remembered the tale she had heard of the 

justice of Heaven; 
Soothed was her troubled soul, and she peacefully 

slumbered till morning. 

FIFTH READING. 

Four times the sun had risen and set; and now on 
the fifth day 
Cheerily called the cock to the sleeping maids of the 
farm-house. ^^ 



102 EVANGELINE. 

Soon o'er the yellow fields, in silent and mournful 

procession, 
Came from the neighboring hamlets and farms the 

Acadian women, 
Driving in ponderous wains their household goods to ' 

the sea-shore, 
Pausing and looking back to gaze once more on their 

dwellings, 
Ere they were shut from sight by the winding road 

and the woodland. ^^^ 

Close at their sides their children ran, and urged on i 

the oxen. 
While in their little hands they clasped some frag- 
ments of playthings. 

Thus to the Gaspereau's mouth they hurried; and 

there on the sea-beach 
Piled in confusion lay the household goods of the 

peasants. 
All day long between the shore and the ships did the 

boats ply; ^^^ 

All day long the wains. came laboring down from the 

village. 
Late in the afternoon, when the sun was near to his 

setting. 
Echoed far o'er the fields came the roll of drums from 

the churchyard. 
Thither the women and children thronged. On a 

sudden the church-doors 
Opened, and forth came the guard, and marching in 

gloomy procession ^^° 

Followed the long-imprisoned, but patient, Acadian 

farmers. 



BVANGKIvINEJ. 103 

Even as pilgrims, who journey afar from their homes 
and their country, 

Sing as they go, and in singing forget they are weary 
and wayworn. 

So with songs on their lips the Acadian peasants de- 
scended 

Down from the church to the shore, amid their wives 
and their daughters. ^'^^ 

Foremost the young men came; and raising together 
their voices. 

Sang with tremulous lips a chant of the Catholic 
Missions: — 

"Sacred heart of the Saviour! O inexhaustible fountain! 

Fill our hearts this day with strength and submission 
and patience!" 

Then the old men, as they marched, and the women 
that stood by the wayside ''""^ 

Joined in the sacred psalm, and the birds in the sun- 
shine above them 

Mingled their notes therewith, like voices of spirits 
departed. 

Half-way down to the shore Evangeline waited in 

silence. 
Not overcome with grief, but strong in the hour of 

affliction, — 
Calmly and sadly she waited, until the procession 

approached her, ^'^ 

And she beheld the face of Gabriel pale with emotion. 
Tears then filled her eyes, and, eagerly running to 

meet him, 
Clasped she his hands, and laid her head on his 

shoulder, and whispered, — 



104 :EVANGELINE. 

''Gabriel! be of good cheer! for if we love one 
another 

Nothing, in truth, can harm us, whatever mischances, 
ma}^ happen !'' ^^^j 

Smiling she spake these words; then suddenly paused, ' 
for her father 

Saw she, slowly advancing. Alas ! how changed was 
his aspect! 

Gone was the glow from his cheek, and the fire from 
his eye, and his footstep 

Heavier seemed with the weight of the heavy heart 
in his bosom. 

But with a smile and a sigh, she clasped his neck 
and embraced him, ^^^ 

Speaking words of endearment where words of com- 
fort availed not. 

Thus to the Gasperau's mouth moved on that mourn- 
ful procession. 

There disorder prevailed, and the tumult and stir 

of embarking. 
Busily plied the freighted boats ; and in the confusion 
Wives were torn from their husbands, and mothers, 

too late, saw their children ^''^ 

Left on the land, extending their arms, with wildest 

entreaties. 
So unto separate ships were Basil and Gabriel carried, 
While in despair on the shore Evangeline stood with 

her father. 
Half the task was not done when the sun went down, 

and the twilight 
Deepened and darkened around ; and in haste the 

refluent ocean ^^^ 






EVANGELINE. 105 



Fled away from tlie shore, and left the line of the 

sand-beach 
Covered with waifs of the tide, with kelp and the 

slippery sea-weed. 
Farther back in the midst of the household goods and 

the wagons, 
Like to a gypsy camp, or a leaguer after a battle. 
All escape cut off by the sea, and the sentinels near 

them, 580 

Lay encamped for the night the houseless Acadian 

farmers. 
Back to its nethermost caves retreated the bellowing 

ocean, 
Dragging adown the beach the rattling pebbles, and 

leaving 
Inland and far up the shore the stranded boats of the 

sailors. 
Then, as the night descended, the herds returned 

from their pastures, ^^^ 

Sweet was the moist still air with the odor of milk 

from their udders 
Lowing they waited, and long, at the well-known 

bars of the farm-yard, — 
Waited and looked in vain for the voice and the hand 

of the milkmaid. 
Silence reigned in the streets ; from the church no 

Angelus sounded. 
Rose no smoke from the roofs, and gleamed no lights 

from the windows. ''^^ 

But on the shores meanwhile the evening fires had 
been kindled, 



i 



106 KVANGELINK. 

Built of the drift-wood thrown on the sands from 

wrecks in the tempest. 
Round them shapes of gloom and sorrowful faces wer 

gathered, 
Voices of women were heard, and of men, and the 

crying of children. 
Onward from fire to fire, as from hearth to hearth in 

his parish, ^'^"^ 

Wandered the faithful priest, consoling and blessing 

and cheering, 
Like unto shipwrecked Paul on Melita's desolate sea- 
shore. 
Thus he approached the place where Evangeline sat 

with her father. 
And in the flickering light beheld the face of the old 

man, 
Haggard and hollow and wan, and without either 

thought or emotion, ^^^ 

E'en as the face of a clock from which the hands have 

been taken. 
Vainly Evangeline strove with words and caresses to 

cheer him, 
Vainly offered him food; yet he moved not, he looked 

not, he spake not. 
But, with a vacant stare, ever gazed at the flickering 

fire-light. 

^^BenediciteP^ murmured the priest, in tones of com- 
passion. ^'^^ 
More he fain would have said, but his heart was full 

and his accents 
Faltered and paused on his lips, as the feet of a child 

on a threshold, . 



EVANGELINE. 107 

Hushed by the scene he beholds, and the awful pres- 
ence of sorrow. 

Silently, therefore, he laid his hand on the head of the 
maiden, 

Raising his tearful eyes to the silent stars that above 
them 610 

Moved on their way, unperturbed by the wrongs and 
sorrows of mortals. 

Then sat he down at her side, and they wept together 
in silence. 

Suddenly rose from the south a light, as in autumn 

the blood-red 
Moon climbs the crystal walls of heaven, and o'er the 

horizon 
Titan-like stretches its hundred hands upon mountain 

and meadow, ^^^ 

Seizing the rocks and the rivers, and piling huge 

shadows together. 
Broader and ever broader it gleamed on the roofs of 

the village, 
Gleamed on the sky and the sea, and the ships that 

lay in the roadstead. 
Columns of shining smoke uprose, and flashes of 

flame were 
Thrust through their folds and withdrawn, like the 

quivering hands of a martyr ^~^ 

Then, as the wind seized the gleeas and the burning 

thatch, and, uplifting, 
Whirled them aloft through the air, at once from a 

hundred house-tops 
Started the sheeted smoke with flashes of flame inter- 
mingled. 



108 EVANGELINE. 

These things beheld in dismay the crowd on the 

shore and on shipboard. 
Speechless at first they stood, then cried aloud in 

their anguish, ^'^"^ 

^'We shall behold no more our homes in the village 

of Grand-Pre!" 
Loud on a sudden the cocks began to crow in the 

farmyards, 
Thinking the day had dawned; and anon the lowing 

of cattle 
Came on the evening breeze, by the barking of dogs 

interrupted. 
Then rose a sound of dread, such as startles the 

sleeping encampments ^^^ 

Far in the western prairies of forests that skirt the 

Nebraska, 
When the wild horses affrighted sweep by with the 

speed of the whirlwind, 
Or the loud bellowing herds of buffaloes rush to the 

river. 
Such was the sound that arose on the night, as the 

herds and the horses 
Broke through their folds and fences, and madly 

rushed o'er the meadows. ^^ 

Overwhelmed with the sight, yet speechless, the 

priest and the maiden 
Gazed on the scene of terror that reddened and 

widened before them; 
And as they turned at length to speak to their silent 

companion, 
Lo! from his seat he had fallen, and stretched abroad 

on the seashore 



EVANGKUNK. 109 

Motionless lay his form, from which the soul had de- 
parted. 640 

Slowly the priest uplifted the lifeless head, and the 
maiden 

Knelt at her father's side, and wailed aloud in her 
terror. 

Then in a swoon she sank and lay with her head on 
his bosom. 

Through the long night she lay in deep, oblivious 
slumber; 

And when she woke from the trance, she beheld a 
multitude near her. ^^^ 

Faces of friends she beheld, that were mournfully gaz- 
ing upon her, 

Pallid, with tearful eyes, and looks of saddest com- 
passion. 
Still the blaze of the burning village illumined the 

landscape. 
Reddened the sky overhead, and gleamed on the faces 

around her. 
And like the day of doom it seemed to her wavering 

senses. ^^^ 

Then a familiar voice she heard, as it said to the 

people, — 
" Let us bury him here by the sea. When a happier 

season 
Brings us again to our homes from the unknown 

land of our exile. 
Then shall his sacred dust be piously laid in the 

churchyard." 
Such were the words of the priest. And there in 

haste by the sea- side, ^^ 



110 KVANGKLINE. 

Having the glare of the burning village for funeral 

torches, 
But without bell or book, they buried the farmer of I 

Grand-Pre. ' 

And as the voice of the priest repeated the service of 

sorrow, 
Lo ! with a mournful sound like the voice of a vast 

congregation, 
Solemnly answered the sea, and mingled its roar 

with the dirges. ^'' 

'T w^as the returning tide, that afar from the waste 

of the ocean, 
With the first dawn of the day, came heaving and 

hurrying landward. 
Then recommenced once more the stir and noise of 

embarking; 
And with the ebb of the tide the ships sailed out of 

the harbor. 
Leaving behind them the dead on the shore, and the 

village in ruins. ^^'^ 

SIXTH READING. 

Many a weary year had passed since the burning of 
Grand-Pre. 

When on the falling tide the freighted vessels de- 
parted. 

Bearing a nation, with all its household goods, into 
exile. 

Exile without an end, and without an example in 
story. 

Far asunder, on separate coasts, the Acadian s 
landed; *^^*' 



KVANGEIylNK. Ill 

Scattered were they, like flakes of snow, when the 
wind from the northeast 

Strikes aslant through the fogs that darken the Banks 

of Newfoundland. 
Friendless, homeless, hopeless, they wandered from 

city to city. 
From the cold lakes of the North to sultry Southern 

savannas — 
From the bleak shores of the sea to the lands where 

the Father of Waters ^'^ 

Seizes the hills in his hands, and drags them down 

to the ocean. 
Deep in their sands to bury the scattered bones of the 

mammoth. 
Friends they sought and homes; and many, despair- 
ing, heart-broken. 
Asked of the earth but a grave, and no longer a friend 

nor a fireside. 
Written their history stands on tablets of stone in the 

churchyards. ^^^ 

Long among them was seen a maiden who waited and 

wandered. 
Lowly and meek in spirit, and patiently suffering all 

things. 
Fair was she and young; but, alas! bsfore her ex- 
tended. 
Dreary and vast and silent, the desert of life, with its 

pathway 
Marked by the graves of those who had sorrowed and 

suffered before her, ^^'' 

Passions long extinguished, and hopes long dead and 

abandoned, 



112 EVANGKLINK. 

As the emigrant's way o'er the Western desert is 
marked by 

Camp-fires long consumed, and bones that bleach in 
the sunshine. 

Something there was in her life incomplete, imper- 
fect, unfinished; 

As if a morning of June, with all its music and sun- 
shine, 

Suddenly paused in the sky, and fading, slowly de- 
scended 

Into the east again, from whence it late had arisen 

Sometimes she lingered in towns, till, urged by the || 
fever within her, ! 

Urged by a restless longing, the hunger and thirst of 
the spirit. 

She would commence again her endless search and 
endeavor; '^^ 

Sometimes in churchyards strayed, and gazed on the 
crosses and toinbstones, 

Sat by some nameless grave, and thought that per- 
haps in its bosom, 

He was already at rest, and she longed to slumber 
beside him. 

Sometimes a rumor, a hearsay, an inarticulate whisper, 

Came with its airy hand to point and beckon her for- 
ward. 

Sometimes she spake with those who had seen her 
beloved and knowm him, 

But it was long ago, in some far-off place or forgot- 
ten. 

"Gabriel Lajeunesse! " they said; "Oh, yes! we have 
seen him. 



EVANGKLINK. 113 

He was with Basil the blacksmith, and both have 

gone to the prairies ; 
Coureurs-des-bois are they, and famous hunters and 

trappers." ™-^ 

"Gabriel Lajeunesse ! " said others; "Oh, yes! we 

have seen him. 
He is a voyageur in the lowlands of Louisiana." 
Then would they say, "Dear child! why dream and 
I wait for him longer ? 

Are there not other youths as fair as Gabriel ? Others 
Who have hearts as tender and true, and spirits as 

loyal ? ' i« 

Here is Baptiste Leblanc, the notary's son, who has 

loved thee 
Many a tedious year; come, give him thy hand and 

be happy !" 
Then would Evangeline answer, serenely but sadly, 

" I cannot ! 
Whither my heart has gone, there follows my hand, 

and not elsewhere. ^^^ 

For when the heart goes before, like a lamp, and 

illumines the pathway. 
Many things are made clear, that else lie hidden in 

darkness." 
Thereupon the priest, her friend and father con- 
fessor. 
Said, with a smile, "O daughter! thy God thus 

speaketh within thee ! 
Talk not of wasted affection, affection never was 

wasted ; ^~^ 

If it enrich not the heart of another, its waters, re- 
turning 



114 KVANGELINK. 

Back to their springs, like the rain, shall fill them 

full of refreshment ; 
That which the fountain sends forth returns again to 

the fountain. 
Patience ; accomplish thy labor; accomplish thy work 

of affection ! 
Sorrow and silence are strong, and patient endurance 

is godlike. ^^^ 

Therefore accomplish thy labor of love, till the heart 

is made godlike. 
Purified, strengthened, perfected, and rendered more 

worthy of heaven ! " 
Cheered by the good man's words, Evangeline labored 

and waited. 
Still in her heart she heard the funeral dirge of the 

ocean, 
But with its sound there was mingled a voice that 

whispered, " Despair not ! " '^^^ 

Thus did that poor soul wander in want and cheerless 

discomfort, 
Bleeding, barefooted, over the shards and thorns of 

existence. 
Let me essay, O Muse! to follow the wanderer's foot- 
steps; — 
Not through each devious path, each changeful year 

of existence; 
But as a traveler follows a streamlet's course through 

the valley: ^^^ 

Far from its margin at times, and seeing the gleam 

of its water 
Here and there, in some open space, and at intervals 

only; 



KVANGEUNK. 115 

Then drawing nearer its banks, through sylvan 

glooms that conceal it, 
Though he behold it not, he can hear its continuous 

murmur; 
Happy, at length, if he find a spot where it reaches 

an outlet. '^^'^ 

SEVENTH READING. 

It was the month of May. Far down the Beautiful 
River, 

Past the Ohio shore and past the mouth of the Wa- 
bash, 

Into the golden stream of the broad and swift Mis- 
sissippi, 

Floated a cumbrous boat, that was rowed by Acadian 
boatmen. 

It was a band of exiles: a raft, as it were, from the 
shipwrecked '^'^^ 

Nation, scattered along the coast, now floating to- 
gether, 

Bound by the bonds of a common belief and a com- 
mon misfortune; 

Men and women and children, who, guided by hope 
or by hearsay. 

Sought for their kith and their kin among the few- 
acred farmers 

On the Acadian coast, and the prairies of fair Ope- 
lousas. 

With them Evangeline went, and her guide, the 
Father Felician. 

Onward o'er sunken sands, through a wilderness 
sombre with forests, 



116 EVANGELINK. 

Day after day they glided adown the turbulent 
river; 

Night after night, by their blazing fires, encamped on 
its borders. 

Now through rushing chutes, among green islands, 
where plumelike ^'^ 

Cotton-trees nodded their shadowy crests, they swept 
with the current. 

Then emerged into broad lagoons, where silvery sand- 
bars 

Lay in the stream, and along the wimpling waves of 
their margin. 

Shining with snow-white plumes, large flocks of pel- 
icans waded. 

Level the landscape grew, and along the shores of the 
river, ^^^ 

Shaded by china-trees, in the midst of luxuriant gar- 
dens, 

Stood the houses of planters, with negro cabins and 
dove-cots. 

They were approaching the region where reigns per- 
petual summer. 

Where through the Golden Coast, and groves of 
orange and citron, 

Sweeps with majestic curve the river away to the 
eastward. '^^'^ 

They; too, swerved from .their course; and, entering 
the Bayou of Plaquemine, 

Soon were lost in a maze of sluggish and devious 
waters. 

Which, like a network of steel, extended in ever}^ 
direction. 



KVANGELINK. 117 

Over their heads the towering and tenebrous boughs 
of the cypress 

Met in a dusky arch, and trailing mosses in mid- 
air •'« 

Waved like banners that hang on the walls of ancient 
I cathedrals. 

Deathlike the silence seemed, and unbroken, save by 
the herons 

Home to their roosts in the cedar-trees returning at 
sunset, 

Or by the owl, as he greeted the moon with demoniac 
laughter. 

Lovely the moonlight was as it glanced and gleamed 
on the water, '^'"'^ 

Gleamed on the columns of cypress and cedar sus- 
taining the arches, 

Down through whose broken vaults it fell as through 
chinks in a ruin. 

Dreamlike, and indistinct, and strange were all things 
around them ; 

And o'er their spirits there came a feeling of wonder 
and sadness, — 

Strange forebodings of ill, unseen and that cannot be 

1 780 

compassea. 
As, at the tramp of a horse's hoof on the turf of the 

prairies, 
Far in advance are closed the leaves of the shrinking 

mimosa, 
So, at the hoof-beats of fate, with sad forebodings of 

evil, 
Shrinks and closes the heart, ere the stroke of doom 

has attained it. 



118 KVANGEI.INE. 

But Evangeline's heart was sustained by a vision, 

that faintly '^^ 

Floated before her eyes, and beckoned her on through 

the moonlight. 
It was the thought of her brain that assumed the 

shape of a phantom. 
Through those shadowy aisles had Gabriel wandered 

before her, 
And every stroke of the oar now brought him nearer 

and nearer. 

Then, in his place, at the prow of the boat, rose 

one of the oarsmen, ^^^ 

And, as a signal sound, if others like them perad- 

venture 
Sailed on those gloomy and midnight streams, blew 

a blast on his bugle. 
Wild through the dark colonnades and corridors leafy 

the blast rang. 
Breaking the seal of silence and giving tongues to 

the forest. 
Soundless above them the banners of moss just stirred 

to the music. ^^^ 

Multitudinous echoes awoke and died in the distance, 
Over the watery floor, and beneath the reverberant 

branches; 
But not a voice replied ; no answer came from the 

darkness ; 
And when the echoes had ceased, like a sense of pain 

was the silence. 
Then Evangeline slept; but the boatmen rowed 

through the midnight, ^^ 



E:VANGEUN]e. 119 

Silent at times, then singing familiar Canadian boat- 
songs, 

Such as they sang of old on their own Acadian rivers. 

While through the night were heard the mysterious 
sounds of the desert, 

Far off, — indistinct, — as of wave or wind in the 
forest. 

Mixed with the whoop of the crane and the roar of 
the grim alligator. ^^^ 

Thus ere another noon they emerged from the 
shades ; and before them 

Lay, in the golden sun, the lakes of the Atchafalaya. 

Water-lilies in myriads rocked on the slight undula- 
tions 

Made by the passing oars, and, resplendent in beauty, 
the lotus 

Lifted her golden crown above the heads of the boat- 
men. ''' 

Faint was the air with the odorous breath of magno- 
lia blossoms. 

And with the heat of noon; and numberless sylvan 
islands, 

Fragrant and thickly embowered with blossoming 
hedges of roses, 

Near to whose shores they glided along, invited to 
slumber. 

Soon by the fairest of these their weary oars were 
suspended. 

Under the boughs of Wachita willows, that grew by 
the margin. 

Safely their boat was moored; and scattered about on 
the greensward. 



120 KVANGELINK. 

Tired with their midnight toil, the weary travellers! 
slumbered. ■ 

Over them vast and high extended the cope of a 
cedar. 

Swinging from its great arms, the trumpet-flower and 
the grapevine ^'^^ 

Hung their ladder of ropes aloft like the ladder of 
Jacob, 

On whose pendulous stairs the angels ascending, de- 
scending, 

Were the swift humming-birds, that flitted from blos- 
som to blossom. 

Such was the vision Evangeline saw as she slumbered 

beneath it. 
Filled was her heart with love, and the dawn of an 

opening heaven ^^^ 

Lighted her soul in sleep with the glory of regions 

celestial. 

Nearer, ever nearer, among the numberless islands, 

Darted a light, swift boat, that sped away o'er the 
water, 

Urged on its course by the sinewy arms of hunters 
and trappers. 

Northward its prow was turned, to the land of the 
bison and beaver. ^^^ 

At the helm sat a youth, with countenance thought- 
ful and careworn. 

Dark and neglected locks overshadowed his brow, and 

a sadness 
Somewhat beyond his years on his face was legibly 

written. 



EVANGELINE. 121 



Gabriel was it, who, weary with waiting, unhappy 

and restless. 
Sought in the Western wilds oblivion of self and of 



sorrow. 



835 



Swiftly they glided along, close under the lee of the 
island. 

But by the opposite bank, and behind a screen of pal- 
mettos; 

So that they saw not the boat, where it lay concealed 
in the willows; 

All undisturbed by the dash of their oars, and unseen, 
were the sleepers; 

Angel of God was their none to awaken the slumber- 
ing maiden. ^^^ 

Swiftly they glided away, like the shade of a cloud on 
the prairie. 

After the sound of their oars on the tholes had died 
in the distance, 

As from a magic trance the sleepers awoke, and the 
maiden 

Said with a sigh to the friendly priest, "O Father 
Felician! 

Something says in my heart that near me Gabriel 
wanders. ^^' 

Is it a foolish dream, an idle and vague superstition? 

Or has an angel passed, and revealed the truth to my 
spirit?" 

Then, with a blush, she added, "Alas for my credu- 
lous fancy! 

Unto ears like thine such words as these have no 
meaning." 

But made answer the reverened man, and he smiled 
as he answered, — 



122 EVANGELINE. 

^'Daughter, thy words are not idle; nor are they to 

me without meaning, 
Feeling is deep and still; and the word that floats on 

the surface 
Is as the tossing buoy, that betrays where the anchor 

is hidden. 
Therefore trust to thy heart, and to what the world 

calls illusions. 
Gabriel truly is near thee; for not far away to the 

southward, ^ 

On the banks of the Teche, are the towns of St. 

Maur and St. Martin. 
There the long-wandering bride shall be given again 

to her bridegroom. 
There the long-absent pastor regain his flock and his 

sheepfold. 
Beautiful is the land, with its prairies and forests of 

fruit-trees; 
Under the feet a garden of flowers, and the bluest of 

heavens ^^^ 

Bending above, and resting its dome on the walls of 

the forest. 
They who dwell there have named it the Eden of 

Louisiana." 

With these words of cheer they arose and con- 
tinued their journey. 

Softly the evening came. The sun from the western 
horizon 

Like a magician extended his golden wand o'er the 
landscape; ^^' 

Twinkling vapors arose ; and sky and water and forest 



EVANGELINE. 123 

Seemed all on fire at the touch ; and melted and 

mingled together. 
Hanging between two skies, a cloud with edges of 

silver, 
Floated the boat, with its dripping oars, on the mo- 
tionless water. 
Filled was Evangeline's heart with inexpressible 

sweetness. ^^'^ 

Touched by the magic spell, the sacred fountains of 

feeling 
Glowed with the light of love, as the skies and waters 

around her. 
Then from a neighboring thicket the mocking-bird, 

wildest of singers, 
Swinging aloft on a willow spray that hung o'er the 

water. 
Shook from his little throat such floods of delirious 

music ''" 

That the whole air and the woods and the waves 

seemed silent to listen. 
Plaintive at first were the tones, and sad; then soaring 

to madness 
Seemed they to follow or guide the revel of frenzied 

Bacchantes. 
Single notes were then heard, in sorrowful, low, lam- 
entation ; 
Till, havino: srathered them all, he flung them abroad 

' . T P .^ 880 

m derision. 
As when, after a storm, a gust of wind through the 

tree-tops 
Shakes down the rattling rain in a crystal shower ou 

the branches. 



124 EVANGEUNK. 

With such a prelude as this, and hearts that throbbed 
with emotion, 

Slowly they entered the Teche, where it flows through 
the green Opelousas, 

And, through the amber air, above the crest of the 
woodland, ^^^ 

Saw the column of smoke that arose from a neigh- 
boring dwelling ;— 

Sounds of a horn they heard, and the distant lowing 
of cattle. 

EIGHTH READING. 

Near to the bank of the river, o'ershadowed by 
oaks from whose branches 

Garlands of Spanish moss and of mystic mistletoe 
flaunted, 

Such as the Druids cut down with golden hatchets at 
Yule-tide, ''' 

Stood, secluded and still, the house of the herdsman. 
A garden 

Girded it round about with a belt of luxuriant blos- 
soms, 

Filling the air with fragrance. The house itself was 
of timbers 

Hewn from the cypress -tree, and carefully fitted to- 
gether. 

Large and low was the roof; and on slender columns 
supported, ^^"' 

Rose-wreathed, vine-encircled, a broad and spacious 
veranda. 

Haunt of the humming-bird and the bee, extended 
around it. 



kvange:i.ink. 125 

At each end of the house, amid the flowers of the 
garden, 

Stationed the dove-cots were, as love's perpetual sym- 
bol, 

Scenes of endless wooing, and endless contentions of 
rivals. •'«'^ 

Silence reigned o'er the place. The line of shadow 
and sunshine 

Ran near the tops of the trees; but the house itself 
was in shadow, 

And from its chimney-top, ascending and slowly ex- 
panding 

Into the evening air, a thin blue column of smoke 
rose. 

In the rear of the house, from the garden gate, ran a 
pathway ^^^ 

Through the great groves of oak to the skirts of the 
limitless prairie. 

Into whose sea of flowers the sun was slowly descend- 
ing. 

Full in his track of light, like ships with shadowy 
canvas 

Hanging loose from their spar in a motionless calm 
in the tropcis, 

Stood a cluster of trees, with tangled cordage of 
grapevines. 

Just where the woodlands met the flowery surf of 

the prairie, 
Mounted upon his horse, with Spanish saddle and 

stirrups. 
Sat a herdsman, arrayed in gaiters and doublet of 

deerskin. 



126 KVANGETJNE. 

Broad and brown was the face tliat from under the 

Spanish sombrero 
Gazed on the peaceful scene, with the lordly look of 

its master. ^^^i 

Round about him were numberless herds of kinethat 

were grazing 
Quietly in the meadows, and breathing the vapory 

freshness 
That uprose from the river, and spread itself over the 

landscape. 
Slowly lifting the horn that hung at his side, and 

expanding 
Fully his broad, deep chest, he blew a blast, that re- 

sounded ^^^ 

Wildly and sweet and far, through the still damp air, 

of the evening. 
Suddenly out of the grass the long white horns of the 

cattle 
Rose like flakes of foam on the adverse currents of 

ocean. 
Silent a moment they gazed, then bellowing rushed 

o'er the prairie, 
And the whole mass became a cloud, a shade in the 

distance. ^'^^ 

Then, as the herdsman turned to the house, through 

the gate of the garden 
Saw he the forms of the priest and the maiden ad- 
vancing to meet him. 
Suddenly down from his horse he sprang in amaze- 
ment, and forward 

Pushed with extended arms and exclamations of won- 
der: 



KVANGKUNK. 127 

When they beheld his face, they recognized Basil the 

blacksmith. '^^^ 

Hearty his welcome was, as he led his guests to the 

garden. 
There in an arbor of roses with endless question and 

answer 
Gave they vent to their hearts, and renewed their 

friendly embraces, 
Laughing and weeping by turns, or sitting silent and 

thoughtful. 
Thoughtful, for Gabriel came not; and now dark 

doubts and misgivings ^^^ 

Stole o'er the maiden's heart; and Basil, somewhat 

embarrassed, 
Broke the silence and said, "If you came by the 

Atchafalaya, 
How have you nowhere encountered my Gabriel's 

boat on the bayous?" 
Over Evangeline's face at the words of Basil a shade 

passed. 
Tears came into her eyes, and she said, with a trem- 
ulous accent, ^^^ 
*'Gone? is Gabriel gone?" and, concealing her face 

on his shoulder,< 
All her o'erburdened heart gave way, and she wept 

and lamented. 
Then the good Basil said, — and his voice grew blithe 

as he said it, — 
"Be of good cheer, my child; it is only today he 

departed. 
Foolish bovl he has left me alone with my herds and 

•U 945 

my horses. 



128 EVANGELINE. 

Moody and restless grown, and tried and troubled, his 
spirit 

Could no longer endure the calm of this quiet exis- 
tence. 

Thinking ever of thee, uncertain and sorrowful 
ever, 

Ever silent, or speaking only of thee and his troubles, 

He at length had become so tedious to men and to 
maidens, ^^^ 

Tedious even to me, that at length I bethought me, 
and sent him 

Unto the town of Adayes to trade for mules with the 
Spaniards. 

Thence he will follow the Indian trails to the Ozark 
Mountains, 

Hunting for furs in the forests, on rivers trapping 
the beaver. 

Therefore be of good cheer; we will follow^ the fugi- 
tive lover; ^^ 

He is not far on his way, and the Fates and the 
streams are against him. 

Up and away tomorrow, and through the red dew of 
the morning. 

We will follow him fast, and bring him back to his 
prison." 

Then glad voices were heard, and up from the 

banks of the river. 
Borne aloft on his comrades' arms, came Michael the 

fiddler. 
Long under Basil's roof had he lived, like a god on 

Olympus, 



EVANGKUNE. 129 

Having no other care than dispensing music to mor- 
tals. 

Far renowned was he for his silver locks and his 
fiddle. 

'Xong live Michael, '^ they cried, "our brave Acadian 
minstrel!" 

As they bore him aloft in triumphal procession; and 
straightway '^^-^ 

Father Felician advanced with Evangeline, greeting 

the old man 
I Kindly and oft, and recalling the past, while Basil, 
! enraptured, 

Hailed with hilarious joy his old companions and 

gossips, 
Laughing loud and long, and embracing mothers and 

daughters. 
Much they marvelled to see the wealth of the ci-devant 

blacksmith, ^'^ 

All his domains and his herds, and his patriarchal 

demeanor ; 
Much they marvelled to hear his tales of the soil and 

the climate, 
And of the prairies, whose numberless herds were his 

who would take them ; 
Each one thought in his heart, that he, too, would go 

and do likewise. 
Thus they ascended the steps, and, crossing the breezy 

veranda, '''"' 

Entered the hall of the house, where already the 

supper of Basil 
Waited his late return ; and they rested and feasted 

together. 



130 KVANGKLIN^. 

Over the joyous feast the sudden darkness de- 
scended. 

All was silent without, and, illuming the landscape 
with silver, 

Fair rose the dewy moon and the myriad stars ; but 
within doors, ^^^ 

Brighter than these, shone the faces of friends in the 
glimmering lamplight. 

Then from his station aloft, at the head of the table, 
the herdsman 

Poured forth his heart and his wine together in end- 
less profusion. 

Lighting his pipe, that was filled with sweet Natchi- 
toches tobacco. 

Thus he spake to his guests, who listened, and smiled 
as they listened : — ^^^ 

"Welcome once more, my friends, who long have 
been friendless and homeless. 

Welcome once more to a home, that, is better per- 
chance than the old one ! 

Here no hungry winter congeals our blood like the 
rivers ; 

Here no stony ground provokes the wrath of the 
farmer ; 

Smoothly the plowshare runs through the soil, as a 
keel through the water. ^^^ 

All the year round the orange-groves are in blossom ; 
and grass grows 

More in a single night than a whole Canadian sum- 
mer. 

Here, too, numberless herds run wild and unclaimed 
in the prairies ; 



- EVANGKIvINE. 131 

Here, too, lands may be had for the asking, and 

forests of timber 
With a few blows of the axe are hewn and framed 

into houses. ^^'' 

After your houses are built, and your fields are yellow 

with harvests. 
No King George of England shall drive you away 

from your homesteads, 
Burning your dwellings and barns, and stealing your 

farms and your cattle." 
Speaking these words, he blew a wrathful cloud from 

his nostrils, 
While his huge, brown hand came thundering down 

on the table, '''' 

So that the guests all started ; and Father Felician, 

astounded. 
Suddenly paused, with a pinch of snuff half-way to 

his nostrils. 
But the brave Basil resumed, and his words were 

milder and gayer: — 
"Only beware of the fever, my friends, beware of the 

fever! 
For it is not like that of our cold Acadian climate, ^^°^ 
Cured by wearing a spider hung round one's neck in 

a nutshell!" 
Then there were voices heard at the door, and foot- 
steps approaching 
Sounded upon the stairs and the floor of the breezy 

veranda. 
It was the neighboring Creoles and small Acadian 

planters, 
Who" had been summoned all to the house of Basil 

the herdsman. 



132 EVANGELINK. 

Merry the meeting was of ancient comrades and 
neighbors: 

Friend clasped friend in his arms; and they who 
before were as strangers, 

Meeting in exile, became straightway as friends to 
each other, 

Drawn by the gentle bond of a common country 
together. 

But in the neighboring hall a strain of music, pro- 
ceeding ^ '''' 

From the accordant strings of Michael's melodious 
fiddle, 

Broke up all further speech. Away, like children 
delighted, 

All things forgotten beside, they gave themselves to 
the maddening 

Whirl of the dizzy dance as it swept and swayed to 
the music. 

Dreamlike, with beaming eyes and the rush of flutter- 
ing garments. ^^^^ 

Meanwhile, apart, at the head of the hall, the priest 

and the herdsman 
Sat, conversing together of past and present and 

future; 
While Evangeline stood like one entranced, for within 

her 
Olden memories rose, and loud in the midst of the 

music 
Heard she the sound of the sea, and an irrepressible 

sadness ^^'^"^ 

Came o'er her heart, and unseen she stole forth into 

the garden. 



I 



EVANGELINE. 133 

Beautiful was the night. Behind the black wall of 

the forest, 
Tipping its summit with silver, arose the moon. On 

the river 
Fell here and there through the branches a tremulous 

gleam of the moonlight, 
Like the sweet thoughts of love on a darkened and 

devious spirit. ^^^^^ 

Nearer and round about her, the manifold flowers 

of the garden 
Poured out their souls in odors, that were their prayers 

aud confessions 
Unto the night, as it went its way, like a silent 

Carthusian. 
Fuller of fragrance than they, and as heavy with 

shadows and night-dews. 
Hung the heart of the maiden. The calm and the 

magical moonlight ^^'^^ 

Seemed to inundate her soul with indefinable long- 
ings. 
As, through the garden gate, and beneath the shade 

of the oak-trees. 
Passed she along the path to the edge of the measure- 
less prairie. 
Silent it lay, with a silvery haze upon it, and fire-flies 
Gleaming and floating away in mingled and infinite 

numbers. ^^'"^^ 

Over her head the stars, the thoughts of God in the 

heavens, 
Shone on the eyes of man, who had ceased to marvel 

and worship. 
Save when a blazing comet was seen on the walls of 

that temple, 



134 KVANGEIJN^. 

As if a hand had appeared and written upon them, 

^'Upharsin." 
And the soul of the maiden, between the stars and 

the fire-flies, ' '''' 

Wandered alone, and she cried, "O Gabriel! O my 

beloved ! 
Art thou so near unto me, and yet I cannot behold 

thee? 
Art thou so near unto me, and yet thy voice does not 

reach me? 
Ah ! how often thy feet have trod this path to the 

prairie ! 
Ah ! how often thine eyes have looked on the wood- 
lands around me ! ^^^^ 
Ah ! how often beneath this oak, returning from labor. 
Thou hast lain down to rest, and to dream of me in 

thy slumbers ! 
When shall these eyes behold, these arms be folded 

about thee?" 
Loud and sudden and near the note of a whippoorwill 

sounded 
Like a flute in the woods; and anon, through the 

neighboring thickets, . ^*^'''' 

Farther and farther away it floated and dropped into 

silence. 
"Patience!" whispered the oaks from oracular cav- 
erns of darkness ; 
And, from the moonlit meadow, a sigh responded, 

" To-morrow! " 

Bright rose the sun next day ; and all the flowers 
of the garden 



KVANGKI^INE^. 135 

Bathed his shining feet with their tears, and anointed 

his tresses ^^^'^ 

With the delicious balm that they bore in their vases 

of crystal. 
"Farewell!" said the priest, as he stood at the 

shadowy threshold ; 
"See that you bring us the Prodigal Son from his 

fasting and famine, 
And, too, the Foolish Virgin, who slept when the 

bridegroom was coming." 
" Farewell ! " answered the maiden, and, smiling, with 

Basil descended ^^^'"^ 

Down to the river's brink, where the boatmen already 

were waiting. 
Thus beginning their journey with morning, and sun- 
shine, and gladness. 
Swiftly they followed the flight of him who wa^ 

speeding before them. 
Blown by the blast of fate like a dead leaf over the 

desert. 
Not that day, nor the next, nor yet the day that suc- 
ceeded, ^ ''•' 
Found they trace of his course, in lake or forest or 

river. 
Nor, after many days, had they found him ; but vague 

and uncertain 
Rumors alone were their guides through a wild and 

desolate country ; 
Till, at the little inn of the Spanish town of Adayes, 
Weary and worn, they alighted, and learned from the 

garrulous landlord ^^"^ 

That on the day before, with horses and guides and 

companions, 



136 EVANGKLINK. 

Gabriel left the village, and took the road of the 
prairies. 

NINTH READING. 

Far in the West there lies a desert land, where the 

mountains 
Lift, through perpetual snows, their lofty and lumi- 
nous summits. 
Down from their jagged, deep ravines, where the 

gorge, like a gateway, ^^^^ 

Opens a passage rude to the wheels of the emigrant's 

wagon, 
Westward the Oregon flows and the Walleway and 

Owyhee. 
Eastward, with devious course, among the Wind-rivre 

Mountains, 
Through the Sweet- water Valley precipitate leaps the 

Nebraska ; 
And to the south, from Fontaineyquibout and the 

Spanish sierras, ^^^^ 

Fretted with sands and rocks, and swept by the wind 

of the desert. 
Numberless torrents, with ceaseless sound, descend 

to the ocean, 
Like the great chords of a harp, in loud and solemn 

vibrations. 
Spreading between these streams are the wondrous, 

beautiful prairies, 
Billowy bavs of grass ever rolling in shadow and sun- 
shine, '^ '''' 
Bright with luxuriant clusters of roses and purple 

amorphas. 



EVANGELINE. 137 

Over them wandered the buffalo herds, and the elk, 
and the roebuck ; 

Over them wandered the wolves, and herds of rider- 
less horses ; 

Fires that blast and blight, and winds that are weary 
with travel ; 

Over them wander the scattered tribes of IshmaePs 
children, 1095 

Staining the desert with blood ; and above their ter- 
rible war-trails 

Circles and sails aloft, on pinions majestic, the vul- 
ture. 

Like the implacable soul of a chieftain slaughtered 
in battle. 

By invisible stairs ascending and scaling the heavens. 

Here and there rise smokes from the camps of these 
savage marauders ; ^^^ 

Here and there rise groves from the margins of swift- 
running rivers ; 

And the grim, taciturn bear, the anchorite monk of 
the desert. 

Climbs down their dark ravines to dig for roots by 
the brook-side, 

And over all is the sky, the clear and crystalline 
heaven. 

Like the protecting hand of God inverted above 
them. 

Into this wonderful land, at the base of the Ozark 
Mountains, 
Gabriel far had entered, with hunters and trappers 
behind him. 



138 EVANGELINE. 

Day after day, with their Indian guides, the maiden 

and Basil 
Followed his flying steps, and thought each day to 

o'ertake him. 
Sometimes they saw, or thought they saw, the smoke 

of his camp-fire ^^^^ 

Rise in the morning air from the distant plain ; but 

at nightfall, 
When they had reached the place, they found only 

embers and ashes. 
And, though their hearts were sad at times and their 

bodies were weary, 
Hope still guided them on, as the magic Fata Mor- 
gana 
Showed them her lakes of light, that retreated and 

vanished before them. ^^^^ 

Once, as they sat by their evening fire, there silently 

entered 
Into the little camp an Indian woman, whose features 
Wore deep traces of sorrow, and patience as great as 

her sorrow. 
She was a Shawnee woman returning home to her 

people, 
From the far-off hunting-grounds of the cruel 

Camanches, ^^"^ 

Where her Canadian husband, a coureur-des-bois, 

had been murdered. 
Touched were their hearts at her story, and warmest 

and friendliest welcome 
Gave they, the words of cheer, and she sat and 

feasted among them 



KVANGELINE. 139 

On the buffalo-meat and the venison cooked on the 

embers. 
But when their meal was done, and Basil and all his 

companions, ^^-^ 

Worn with the long day's march and the chase of the 

deer and the bison, 
iStretched themselves on the ground, and slept where 

the quivering fire-light 
Flashed on their swarthy cheeks, and their forms 

wrapped up in their blankets, 
Then at the door of Evangeline's tent she sat and 

repeated 
Slowly, wdth soft, low voice, and the charm of her 

Indian accent, ^'^^ 

All the tale of her love, with its pleasures, and pains, 

and reverses. 
Much Evangeline wept at the tale, and to know that 

another 
Hapless heart like her own had loved and had been 

disappointed. 
Moved to the depths of her soul by pity and woman's 

compassion. 
Yet in her sorrow pleased that one who had suffered 

was near her, '^^'^ 

She in turn related her love and all its disasters. 
Mute with wonder the Shawnee sat, and when she 

had ended 
Still was mute; but at length, as if a mysterious 

horror 
Passed through her brain, she spake, and repeated 

the tale of the Mowis; 
Mo wis, the brideo^room of snow, who won and wedded 

•1 1140 

a maiden. 



140 KVANGKLINK. 

Butj when the morning came, arose and passed from 

the wigwam, 
Fading and melting away and dissolving into the 

sunshine, 
Till she beheld him no more, though she followed far 

into the forest. 
Then, in those sweet, low tones, that seemed like a 

weird incantation. 
Told she the tale of the fair Lilinau, who was wooed 

by a phantom, ^^^^ 

That, through the pines o^er her father's lodge, in the 

hush of the twilight, 
Breathed like the evening wind, and whispered love 

to the maiden, 
Till she followed his green and waving plume through 

the forest, 
And nevermore returned, nor was seen again by her 

people. 
Silent with wonder and strange surprise, Evangelin 

listened ^ ^ '''' 

To the soft flow of her magical words, till the region 

around her 
Seemed like enchanted ground, and her swarthy 

guest the enchantress. 
Slowly over the tops of the Ozark Mountains the 

moon rose, 
Lighting the little tent, and with a mysterious 

splendor 
Touching the sombre leaves, and embracing and 

filling the woodland. ^^•'' 

With a delicious sound the brook rushed by, and the 

branches 



I 



BVANGKUNE. 141 

Swayed and sighed overhead in scarcely audible 

whispers. 
Filled with the thoughts of love was Evangeline's 

heart, but a secret, 
Subtile sense crept in of pain and indefinite terror, 
As the cold, poisonous snake creeps into the nest of 

the swallow. ^^^o 

It was no earthly fear. A breath from the region of 

spirits 
Seemed to float in the air of night; and she felt for a 

moment 
That, like the Indian maid, she, too, was pursuing a 

phantom. 
With this thought she slept, and the fear and the 

phantom had vanished. 
Early upon the morrow the march was resumed, and 

the Shawnee ^^^^ 

Said, as they journeyed along, — ''On the western 

slope of these mountains 
Dwells in his little village the Black Robe chief of 

the Mission. 
Much he teaches the people, and tells them of Mary 

and Jesus ; 
Loud laugh their hearts with joy, and weep with pain, 

as they hear him." 
Then, with a sudden and secret emotion, Evangeline 

answered, ^^"^ 

'' Let us go to the Mission, for there good tidings 

await us ! " 
Thither they turned their steeds ; and behind a spur 

of the mountains. 
Just as the sun went down, they heard a murmur of 

voices, 



142 KVANGKLINK. • 

And in a meadow green and broad, by the bank of a 

river, 
Saw the tents of the Christians, the tents of the 

Jesuit Mission. ^^'^ 

Under a towering oak, that stood in the midst of the 

village, 
Knelt the Black Robe chief with his children. A 

crucifix fastened 
High on the trunk of the tree, and overshadowed by 

grapevines. 
Looked with its agonized face on the multitude kneel- 
ing beneath it. 
This was their rural chapel. Aloft, through the in- 
tricate arches ^^^^ 
Of its aerial roof, arose the chant of their vespers, 
Mingling its notes with the soft susurrus and sighs 

of the branches. 
Silent, with heads uncovered, the travellers, nearer 

approaching, 
Knelt on the swarded floor, and joined in the evening 

devotions. 
But when the service was done, and the benediction 

had fallen '''' 

Forth from the hands of the priest, like seed from the 

hands of the sower. 
Slowly the reverend man advanced to the strangers, 

and bade them 
Welcome; and when they replied, he smiled with 

benignant expression, 
Hearing the homelike sounds of his mother-tongue 

in the forest. 
And with words of kindness conducted them into his 

wigwam. ^^^^ 



KVANGKlvlNK. 143 

There upon mats and skins they reposed, and on 
cakes of the maize-ear 

t Feasted, and slaked their thirst from the water-gourd 
of the teacher. 

Soon was their story told ; and the priest with solem- 
nity answered : — 

"Not six suns have risen and set since Gabriel, 
seated 

On this mat by my side, where now the maiden re- 
poses, ^^^^ 

Told me the same sad tale ; then arose and continued 
his journey!" 

Soft was the voice of the priest, and he spake with an 
accent of kindness ; 

But on Evangeline's heart fell his words as in winter 
the snow-flakes 

Fall into some lone nest from which the birds have 
departed. 

" Far to the north he has gone," continued the priest ; 
"but in autumn, ^'^^ 

When- the chase is done, will return again to the 
Mission." 

Then Evangeline said, and her voice was meek and 
submissive, 

"Let me remain with thee, for my soul is sad and 
afaicted." 

So seemed it wise and well unto all ; and betimes on 
the morrow. 

Mounting: his Mexican steed, with his Indian guides 

1 ° • 1.205 

and companions. 
Homeward Basil returned, and Evangeline stayed at 
the Mission. 



144 KVANGKI.INE. 

Slowly, slowly, slowly the days succeeded each 

other, — 
Days and weeks and months ; and the fields of maize 

that were springing 
Green from the ground when a stranger she came, 

now waving about her, 
Lifted their slender shafts, with leaves interlacing, 

and forming ^^^^ 

Cloisters for mendicant crows and granaries pillaged 

by squirrels. 
Then in the golden weather the maize was husked, 

and the maidens 
Blushed at each blood-red ear, for that betokened a 

lover. 
But at the crooked laughed, and called it a thief in 

the corn-field. 
Even the blood-red ear to Evangeline brought not 

her lover. ^~^^ 

''Patience !" the priest would say; "have faith, and 

thy prayer will be answered ! 
Look at this vigorous plant that lifts its head from 

the meadow. 
See how its leaves are turned to the north, as true as 

the magnet ; 
This is the compass-flower, that the finger of God has 

planted 
Here in the houseless wild, to direct the traveller's 

1220 

journey 
Over the sea-like, pathless, limitless waste of the 

desert. 
Sucli in the soul of man is faith. The blossoms of 

passion, 



. EVANGKI.INE. 145 

Gay and luxuriant flowers, are brighter and fuller of 
fragrance, 

But they beguile us, and lead us astray, and their 
odor is deadly. 

Only this humble plant can guide us here, and here- 
after i~~5 

Crown us with asphodel flowers, that are wet with 
the dews of nepenthe." 

So came the autumn, and passed, and the winter — 
yet Gabriel came not ; 

Blossomed the opening spring, and the notes of the 
robin and bluebird 

Sounded sweet upon wold and in wood, yet Gabriel 
came not. 

But on the breath of the summer winds a rumor was 
wafted '^'^^ 

Sweeter than the song of bird, or hue or odor of blos- 
som. 

Far to the north and east, it is said, in the Michigan 
forests, 

Gabriel had his lodge by the banks of the Saginaw 
River. 

And, with returning guides, that sought the lakes of 
St. Lawrence, 

Saying a sad farewell, Evangeline went from tlie 
Mission. • ^''^ 

When over weary ways, by long and perilous 
marches, 

She had attained at length the depths of the Michi- 
gan forests. 

Found she the hunter's lodge deserted and fallen to 
ruin! 



146 BVANGKIvINK. 

Thus did the long sad years glide on, and in sea- 
sons and places 
Divers and distant far was seen the wandering 

maiden ; — ^-'^^ 

Now in the Tents of Grace of the meek Moravian 

Missions, 
Now in the noisy camps and the battle-fields of the 

army. 
Now in secluded hamlets, in towns and populous 

cities. 
Like a phantom she came, and passed away unre- 

membered. 
Fair was she and young, when in hope began the 

long journey; ^^^"^ 

Faded was she and old, when in disappointment it 

ended. 
Each succeeding year stole something away from her 

beauty. 
Leaving behind it, broader and deeper, the gloom and 

the shadow. 
Then there appeared and spread faint streaks of gray 

o'er her forehead. 
Dawn of another life, that broke o'er her earthly 

horizon, '''' 

As in the eastern sky the first faint streaks of the 

morning. 

TENTH READING. 

In that delightful land which is washed by the 
Delaware's waters. 
Guarding in sylvan shades the name of Penn the 
apostle, 



KVANGKlvINK. 147 

Stands on the banks of its beautiful stream the city 
he founded. 

There all the air is balm, and the peach is the em- 
blem of beauty. ^-^^ 

And the streets still reecho the names of the trees of 
the forest, 

As if they fain would appease the Dryads whose 
haunts they molested. 

There from the troubled sea had Evangeline landed, 
an exile, 

Finding among the children of Penn a home and a 
country. 

There old Rene Leblanc had died; and when he 
departed, ^^^^ 

Saw at his side only one of all his hundred descend- 
ants. 

Something at least there was in the friendly streets 
of the city, 

Something that spake to her heart, and made her no 
longer a stranger; 

And her ear was pleased with the Thee and Thou of 
the Quakers, 

For it recalled the past, the old Acadian country, ^~^^ 

Where all men were equal, and all were brothers and 
sisters. 

So, when the fruitless search, the disappointed en- 
deavor. 

Ended, to recommence no more upon earth, uncom- 
plainingly; 

Thither, as leaves to the light, were turned her 
thoughts and her footsteps. 

As from a mountain's top the rainy mists of the 
morning ^^'^ 



148 KVANGEIvINE. 1 

Roll away, and afar we behold the landscape below us, 
Sun-illumined, with shining rivers and cities and 

hamlets, 
So fell the mists from her mind, and she saw the 

world far below her, 
Dark no longer, but all illumined with love ; and the 

pathway 
Which she had climbed so far, lying smooth and fair 

in the distance. ^'^"^ 

Gabriel was not forgotten. Within her heart was his 

image. 
Clothed in the beauty of love and youth, as last she 

beheld him, 
Only more beautiful made by his deathlike silence 

and absence. 
Into her thoughts of him time entered not, for it was 

not. 
Over him years had no power; he was not changed, 

but transfigured ; ^^^^ 

He had become to her heart as one who is dead, and 

not absent; 
Patience and abnegation of self, and devotion to others, 
This was the lesson a life of trial and sorrow had 

taught her. 
So was her love diffused, but, like to some odorous 

spices, 
Suffered no waste nor loss, though filling the air with 

aroma. ^"^^ 

Other hope had she none, nor wish in life, but to fol- 
low. 
Meekly with reverent steps, the sacred feet of her 

Saviour. 



EVANGKLINK. 149 

Thus many years she lived as a Sister of Mercy; 

frequenting 
Lonely and wretched roofs in the crowded lanes of 

the city, 
Where distress and want concealed themselves from 

the sunlight, ^"^^^ 

Where disease and sorrow in garrets languished 

neglected. 
Night after night when the world was asleep, as the 

watchman repeated 
Loud, through the gusty streets, that all was well in 

the city, 
High at some lonely window he saw the light of her 

taper. 
Day after day, in the gray of the dawn, as slow 

through the suburbs ^^^^ 

Plodded the German farmer, with flowers and fruits 

for the market. 
Met he that meek, pale face, returning home from its 

watchings. 

Then it came to pass that a pestilence fell on the 
city, 

Presaged by wondrous signs, and mostly by flocks of 
wild pigeons. 

Darkening the sun in their flight, with naught in 
their craws but an acorn. ^^"^ 

And, as the tides of the sea arise in the month of 
September, 

Flooding some silver stream, till it spreads to a lake 
in the meadow. 

So death flooded life, and, o'erflowing its natural mar- 
gin, 



150 EVANGKLINE. 

Spread to a brackish lake the silver stream of exist- 
ence. 

Wealth had no power to bribe, nor beauty to charm, 
the oppressor; ^^^^ 

But all perished alike beneath the scourge of his 
anger;— 

Only, alas! the poor, who had neither friends nor 
attendants, 

Crept away to die in the almshouse, home of the 
homeless. 

Then in the suburbs it stood, in the midst of meadows 
and woodlands; — 

Now the city surrounds it; but still, with its gateway 
and wicket ^^^^ 

Meek, in the midst of splendor, its humble walls 
seem to echo 

Softly the words of the Lord: — ''The poor ye always 
have with you." 

Thither, by night and by day, came the Sister of 
Mercy. The dying 

Looked up into her face, and thought, indeed, to be- 
hold there 

Gleams of celestial light encircle her forehead with 
splendor, ^^^^ 

Such as the artist paints o^er the brows of saints and 
apostles. 

Or such as hangs by night o'er a city seen at a dist- 
ance. 

Unto their eyes it seemed the lamps of the city celes- 
tial, 

Into whose shining gates erelong their spirits would 
enter. 



evange:unk. 151 

Thus, on a Sabbath morn, through the streets, de- 
serted and silent, ^^-^ 

Wending her quiet way, she entered the door of the 
almshouse. 

Sweet on the summer air was the odor of flowers in 
the garden, 

And she paused on her way to gather the fairest 
among them. 

That the dying once more might rejoice in their fra- 
grance and beauty. 

Then, as she mounted the stairs to the corridors, 
cooled by the east wind, ^^^^ 

Distant and soft on her ear fell the chimes from the 
belfry of Christ Church, 

While, intermingled with these, across the meadows 
were wafted 

Sounds of psalms, that were sung by the Swedes in 
their church at Wicaco. 

Soft as descending wings fell the calm of the hour on 
her spirit; 

Something within her said, "At length thy trials are 
ended;" '''' 

And, with light in her looks, she entered the cham- 
bers of sickness. 

Noiselessly moved about the assiduous, careful attend- 
ants, 

Moistening the feverish lip, and the aching brow, and 
in silence 

Closing the sightless eyes of the dead, and concealing 
their faces, 

Where on their pallets they lay, like drifts of snow 
by the roadside. ^ '^^" 

Many a languid head, upraised as Evangeline entered, 



152 KVANGKLIN^. 

Turned on its pillow of pain to gaze while she passed, 

for her presence 
Fell on their hearts like a ray of the sun on the walls 

of a prison. 
And, as she looked around, she saw how Death the 

consoler, 
Laying his hand upon many a heart, had healed it 

forever. ^'^'^^ 

Many familiar forms had disappeared in the night 

time ; 
Vacant their places were, or filled already by strangers. 

Suddenly, as if arrested, by fear or a feeling of 

wonder. 
Still she stood, with her colorless lips apart, while a 

shudder 
Ran through her frame, and, forgotten, the flowerets 

dropped from her fingers, ^^^'' 

And from her eyes and cheeks the light and bloom 

of the morning. 
Then there escaped from her lips a cry of such terri- 
ble anguish. 
That the dying heard it, and started up from their 

pillows. 
On the pallet before her was stretched the form of an 

old man. 
Long, and thin, and gray were the locks that shaded 

his temples; ^^''^ 

But, as he lay in the morning light, his face for a 

moment 
Seemed to assume once more the forms of its earlier 

manhood : 



EVANGKLINK. 153 

So are wont to be changed the faces of those who are 

dying. 
Hot and red on his lips still burned the flush of the 

fever, 
As if life, like the Hebrew, with blood had be- 
sprinkled its portals, ^-^''^ 
That the Angel of Death might see the sign, and 

pass over. 
Motionless, senseless, dying, he lay, and his spirit 

exhausted 
Seemed to be sinking down through infinite depths in 

the darkness, 
Darkness of slumber and death, forever sinking and 

sinking. 
Then through those realms of shade, in multiplied 

reverberations, ^^^^ 

Heard he that cry of pain, and through the hush that 

succeeded 
Whispered a gentle voice, in accents tender and saint- 
like, 
"Gabriel! O my beloved!" and died away into silence. 
Then he beheld, in a dream, once more the home of 

his childhood; 
Green Acadian meadows, with sylvan rivers among 

them, '-''^ 

Village, and mountain, and woodlands; and, walking 

under their shadow. 
As in the days of her youth^ Evangeline rose in his 

vision. 
Tears came into his eyes; and as slowly he lifted his 

eyelids, 
Vanished the vision away, but Evangeline knelt by 

his bedside. 



154 KVANGKLINK. 

Vainly lie strove to whisper lier name, for the accents 

unuttered ^^^^ 

Died on his lips, and their motion revealed what his 

tongue would have spoken. 
Vainly he strove to rise; and Evangeline, kneeling 

beside him, 
Kissed his dying lips, and laid his head on her bosom. 
Sweet was the light of his eyes; but it suddenly sank 

into darkness, 
As when a lamp is blown out by a gust of wind at a 

casement. ^^^^ 

All was ended now, the hope, and the fear, and the 

sorrow. 
All the aching of heart, the restless, unsatisfied 

longing, 
All the dull, deep pain, and constant anguish of 

patience! 
And, as she pressed once more the lifeless head to her 

bosom. 
Meekly she bowed her own, and murmured, "Father, 

I thank thee!" '''' 

Still stands the forest primeval; but far away from 
its shadow. 

Side by side, in their nameless graves, the lovers are 
sleeping. 

Under the humble walls of the little Catholic church- 
yard. 

In the heart of the city, they lie, unknown and un- 
noticed. 

Daily the tides of life go ebbing and flowing beside 
them, '''' 



KVANGELINE. 155 

Thousands of throbbing hearts, where theirs are at 

rest and forever, 
Thousands of aching brains, where theirs no longer 

are busy, 
Thousands of toiling hands, where theirs have ceased 

from their labors. 
Thousands of weary feet, where theirs have completed 

their journey! 

Still stands the forest primeval; but under the 
shade of its branches ^'^'-'^ 

Dwells another race, with other customs and 
language. 

Only along the shore of the mournful and misty 
Atlantic 

Linger a few Acadian peasants, whose fathers from 
exile 

Wandered back to their native land to die in its 
bosom. 

In the fisherman's cot the wheel and the loom are 
still busy; ''^' 

Maidens still wear their Norman caps and their 
kirtles of homespun, 

And by the evening fire repeat Evangeline's story, 

While from its rocky caverns the deep-voiced, neigh- 
boring ocean 

Speaks, and in accents disconsolate answers the wail 
of the forest. 



The Plan Books. 

FOR PRIHARY AND INTERMEDIATE GRADES. 



Ten Guides or Sets of Plans. One for each month 
in the school year. Nothing to compare with them 
ever issued. A f avorite with progressive teachers 
in all parts of the country. 

Your Work -^^ school work can be well done that is not 

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iTIUSL DC r^ianneQ are problems every teacher is now working out. 
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The Purpose of They aim, as far as possible, to supply tl , 

fhp» Pl^n RnnLrc teacher's needs in this direction; to assist the 
nic i-idii I3UU1V& teacher in making out her daily plans; to show 
how school work may be correlated; to enable her, from its references, to 
turn at once to the needed book' for the appropriate song or story to be used 
in connection with the day's lessons; to provide seat work which will be of 
educational value, and to save money spent by the teacher in the purchase 
of many books for the sake of a very little which may be used in school work. 

The Pi,AN Book has been issued in ten numbers or volumes, one for 
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lessons and plans. 

nri-p Conf pnt<5 consists of science or nature lessons, blacks* 

I lie v/Un ten LS> board reading lessons, drawing lessons, seat 

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for special days or national holidays. 

Bach number has 112 large pages, and is the best, most practical mat- 
ter to be had for the money. Issues such as December and February 
have several half-tone engravings. Bach issue has many good pictures and 
special songs. 

PRICE FOR ANY MONTH, 25 CENTS. 
THE 10 MONTHS, SEPTEMBER TO JUNE, INCLUSIVE, $2.00. 



Hr^t^^A \/^^it**^^cy AUTUMN— September, October, November, 
tSOUna volumes 335 pages, flexible cloth, 11.00. WINTER— 

December, January, February, 336 pages, |1.00. SPRING— March, April, 
May, June, 448 pages, $1.00. The three volumes for |2.50. Total set con- 
tains 1,120 pages. 

Send for a copy and you will want all of them. 

Chicago, January 10, 1898. Marshall, Mich. 

My Dear Sir.—l have received the Janu- Our teachers are enthusiastic in praise of 

aary Plan Book. It is in keeping with the Plan Books. Quite a number have a 

the others. I most cordially approve of it, full set, and the general expression is, "The 

and shall take the first opportunity to best thing out." You deserve the thanks 

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also it is the first thing of the kind I have teachers, for publishing these books, 

ever seen vphich I can fully approve. Yours E). F. I,ohr, 

very truly, Orville T. Bright, Supt. of Scliools. 
Co. Supt, Cook Co., 111. 

A. FLANAGAN, . . 267 WABASH AVENUE, CHICAGO, iLI.. 



The Story of Lafayette, 

FOR INTERMEDIATE GRADES. 



f\t$t l)l$tOry T/ie first real attempt to give the history of this remarkable 
man and his achievements in story form, suited to the taste and ability of 
pupils of the third and fourth grades. 

Cl)^ JllttbOr 9 The author is a teacher of wide experience, thorough schol- 
CCdCbCf arship and literary ability, who has brought all these ele- 

ments to bear in the writing of the most successful biographical story yet 
published. 

TntCKSt lit The wide-spread interest in Lafayette at this time taken in 

£(lfayCttC connection with the intense patriotic feeling recently awak- 

ened, will give wise direction to much of that feeling, and make plain to 
the youth the awful price of our liberties, as well as show them how much 
men of high motives, noble character and pure patriotism have contributed 
and still contribute toward the principles of liberty. 

CrUtMUl and The author has told a truthful story in a charming way, 
Cbafintnd story embodying the fruit of extensive reading and research in a 
condensed form. The historic facts are absolutely reliable, and the story 
is more fascinating than fiction, while the literary finish is all that could 
be desired. The illustrations are fine and add to the value of the book 
in every way. 

CafayCttC tbC in fact, lyafayette the man, Ivafayette the warrior, are the 
|)^fO same as Lafayette, the heroic and chivalric friend of the 

peerless Washington. The story is timely, interesting, Anspiring, w^ll-told 
and well adapted to use as a supplementary reader or library book. 

Poems Of l$24, It contains the poems spoken by the children of New York, 
CCttCrS, etc. Massachusetts and Connecticut in 1824, when Lafayette re- 

visited America, besides extracts from many original documents, such as 
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saver to the teacher and pupil. All this material is so deftly woven into 
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educational The educational value of this remarkable book is beyond 

llalUC computation, and it will do much to make many American 

Lafayettes who will fight the great battles for human liberty in the twen- 
tieth century. 

Price: Paper, 112 pp., 20c.; Cloth, 30c. 



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